


Unbreakable

by Mutant_Toad



Category: The Strain (TV), The Strain Trilogy - Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Genre: Blood Worms, Cunnilingus, F/M, Lies, Manual stimulation, Mix of Novels/Comics/TV Show, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Parasites, Parasitic pregnancy, Quinlan doesn't have genitalia, Rebirth, Romance, Second Chances, aftermath AU, divine intervention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-10-04
Packaged: 2018-12-19 04:13:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 45,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11889771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mutant_Toad/pseuds/Mutant_Toad
Summary: He expected, and yearned for, death. He had seen to the avenging of the death of his wife and daughter and brought the downfall of his 'father'. There was nothing more for him and he looked forward to whatever the afterlife held for him. Heaven or Hell, he would accept either.Quinlan isn't prepared for what was to come next.**NOTE** Author participates in National Novel Writing Month (which is in November). Story will be on hold for the duration of November.





	1. Chapter 1

Death had been quicker than he'd imagined it would be. He could feel the worms digging into his skin, but his father had been too late in claiming his body. A bright light burned his eyes first, then a white hot pain rushed over him. It destroyed the worms and left him with his own clear thoughts before death. 

He thought of his wife, Tasa, and adopted daughter. Nothing more than her voice singing her child to sleep and her soft lips touching his cheek before he slept. For centuries, it was those memories that had fueled him. To avenge them and his loss. It had been his whole life.

Death itself was painless. It was more a slow loss of sensation. It was very strange, but not unpleasant. It was almost relaxing.

Quinlan wondered what the afterlife would hold for him, is anything. The idea of just ceasing to exist was acceptable. He was also willing to accept punishment for the lives he had taken and to live eternally in hell if that was what needed to be done. He had never claimed to be a pure man or having done anything in good faith. He knew what he was and what he'd done and would accept punishment for it. Perhaps, though unlikely, there was a heaven for him. Somewhere that he could be with his wife and daughter again.

There was a moment of darkness. He could hear and feel absolutely nothing. As if he were just floating somewhere. It would have been unnerving, but he had no nerves left.

A voice spoke around him, he couldn't hear what it said, but it was somehow comforting. Warm. Not the feverish heat that he was used to his body running. Just a soft warmth that came with the voice. It was a nice feeling that he hadn’t felt in a very long time. He felt like everything was going to be good. The voice was lifting a great burden from his shoulders. Quinlan didn’t need to know what it was saying. All that mattered was that he felt safe.

The feeling faded as the voice drifted away. He felt a heavy pressure on his chest. Sudden awareness of his body came back and he gasped in pain. He was being pushed away from the comforting voice and back towards coldness. Away from the soft floating feeling and back into hard solid formations of life. He didn’t want it. He resisted and struggled. Demanded to be let go. He begged for hell and eternity, but something continued to push against him. It wouldn’t let him be at rest. 

Painfully, slowly, his eyes opened. It took several moments for the ice blue eyes to adjust and clear. He was staring up at the wooden slats of a ceiling. His head turned, his neck feeling stiff and sore, towards a window. The wooden shutters were shut and a thin sheet was nailed over it to block out as much light as possible. It was suitable enough not to burn his sensitive eyes, but he could tell it was daylight out. As he turned his head the other way, he felt his stinger rattle against his throat. It wasn’t an audible rattle yet, but it would be soon enough. He was hungry. 

The room was small and sparse. Just a simple chair near the bed he was on and a small table near the end of the bed. There were no signs that anyone actually lived here. No clothes, books, or odds and ends. It seemed that it was a place for nothing more than him to lay in. Quinlan had lived in sparser conditions before, but he was concerned as to how he ended up here.

He should be dead.

There was no way possible that he should have survived the blast. He doubted that even if they had been wrong about the location that his father could have survived an explosion at that distance. The land itself for miles would be unlivable for decades, possibly longer. Other than feeling sore, he didn’t seem to have any damage to his body. Something he knew wasn’t possible.

His pale eyes settled on the chair near the bed. She was in her early thirties, her lightly tanned face was relaxed as she slept sitting up. Long, dark brown-almost black hair hung around her face as it was tilted downward, her chin nearly touching her chest. Her shoulders would raise a bit as she took relaxed breaths. She couldn’t have been more than five and a half feet tall. It was hard to tell her weight with the thick clothing she wore. A heavy sweater and poorly fitting jeans. Her face was plain, but not unattractive by human standards. 

It was a strange feeling, but his mind seemed to go fuzzy. 

Slowly, he stood from the bed, barely noticing that he was wearing nothing more than somewhat oversized pants. His body felt a little sore, but nothing he hadn’t experienced most of his life. That wasn’t a focus right now though. What was, was the woman dozing in the chair. He moved quietly to close the short distance to it from the bed and stared down at her. Her fingers were holding, loosely, onto what appeared to be a shirt. There was a sewing needle poked into it with a piece of thread hanging down. He recognized it as his own shirt. 

Quinlan remembered coming home one night to find his wife in much the same position. Dozing on her stool in front of the cooking fire, leaned somewhat against the wall with a shirt in her hands to be fixed, “Tasa…” he barely realized he’d even said it. Softly and low, barely a whisper.

He remembered scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to bed. Tasa would rouse in his arms, sliding her hands over his shoulders with a smile on her lips. A soft kiss would last till he laid her out on the bedding and it would slowly turn more passionate. He would touch her lightly and intimately before they would proceed with their own form of love making. It wasn’t conventional and he knew it, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was how it felt for them.

The only thing to draw him out of his memories was the sound of a scream and a sharp, hard hit that glanced along his left cheek. Then there was the tiny, stabbing pain in one of his hands. His vision cleared and he realized he’d attempted to pick the sleeping woman up. She’d woken, quite startled, and thrust her palm forward into his cheek before stabbing him in the hand with her sewing needle.

Rather than being ashamed of what he’d done, he suddenly felt his hunger rising. This woman wasn’t Tasa and that overrode any sense of affection he’d been having brought up by his memories. The sound of her heart racing in her panic filled his ears. All he could think about was satisfying his intense hunger. There were several times in his long life that he felt this kind of hunger. Once when he had gone into hiding for several months. Another was when he’d attempted a more human life and refused to take human blood. While he could sustain his life on animals, it was only human blood that truly satisfied him.

It seemed that his body had lost none of it’s raw strength or speed. The flailing body below him, as he threw her to the ground and practically pounced on her, did nothing to deter the sheer level of hunger he felt. He forced their head to the side and his eyes fixated on the soft neck. He could hear the blood rushing and see the veins bulging beneath the tender skin. The stinger in his mouth rattled loudly, giving off the familiar sounds associated with his kind.

He was so focused on feeding that he dropped his guard. Thick, strong arms grabbed him from behind. Quinlan was stronger, but he was shocked at the sudden attack. It gave him a moment of clarity from his hunger and memories. The poor woman was sprawled out on the floor, pinned down between his legs. Her dark blue eyes wide with fear and staring up at him.

“You alright?” the voice was familiar and he turned his head to see Vasiliy Fet. The man wasn’t speaking to him though. He was addressing the woman, “Emmy? Are you alright?”

She seemed to be in a state of shock, but she eventually nodded her head and spoke, “I’m okay…”

“I told you not to come in here alone. You could have been killed,” the Ukrainian man scolded her as she pushed herself into one of the corners of the room, her eyes still on him. She had been dozing, so she had to have been in here for sometime.

“I...I’m sorry, Fet. I wasn’t thinking…”

Quinlan pushed himself free of the other man’s arms and slowly stood. He wasn’t sure what to say. He had so many questions, but none of them seemed all that important. Mostly because he had his doubts that he would get answers. He knew he had to say something though, “How did I get here?” that seemed simple enough a question for now.

“Emmy, you go take care of those kids that got hurt by the river. I’ll take care of this,” Fet gave his order and she ran off quick, “She was one of the lucky ones and got out of New York quick and never had much dealings with the munchers face to face. I’d say she would keep away from you for a while, but I doubt it. She’s stubborn. She won’t tell the others what happened. I think.”

Fatigue came over him quickly and he slowly brought himself back to the bed and settled down onto it, “I don’t understand…”

“That’s no good. I was hoping you could answer a few questions for me,” he gave the half breed a half-cocked smirk.

His relationship with the large man had always been tense. They were never on the best of terms and only worked together for a common goal, “I really don’t know how I’m here.”

“Well, Emmy found you in the river about a month ago. We dragged you up and the others wanted to cut off your head, but I vouched for you. I think if Emmy was going to tell anyone what just happened, they would be pounding down the door to cut you up,” not that Quinlan felt he would fight against if it happened.

The river. He was amazed he could have survived that. Water didn’t hurt them, but they couldn’t cross moving water. He had never had reason to test what would happen if he were thrown into water and it carried him. The blast had been human caused, so he supposed it was some kind of exception to the rule, “I don’t understand. I should be dead. I was dead, I think. I’m not sure what _that_ was,” he remembered the comforting voice. He had been thankful for death and now he was back here and everything felt heavy and cold again, “Is _he_ dead?” perhaps none of it had worked.

“He is. The others have all dropped dead. Other than you, not a single sighting that we’ve heard of. We’re still digging bodies out of holes and stuff, but we burn what we find. No worms in any of them. It’s amazing how quick it was once the blast went off.”

Quinlan had always known that killing his father meant his own death. Whether it was by his own hand or not, he knew it was fact that if an Ancient was killed, then all those that were created from them would die. He saw no reason why that would be different for himself. He was an abomination that deserved death when his kind met their fates. Yet here he was.

“I don't understand this,” he wanted answers that he knew no one could give him.

“Well, I've seen a lotta messed up things, but I think you got yourself a second chance.”

That didn't sit well with Quinlan. He didn't want a second chance. If he actually counted it, he had had his fair share of second chances. It didn't seem right to get that close to death and avoid it once again. Why did he deserve this over so many that had died? The world was no place for a monster like him.

The Master was gone. His father had been destroyed. There were no more Ancients. He had no purpose left in his life. It would be simple to take his own life. He had considered it many times in the past. Only the need to put an end to the Master had pushed him forward and that was now gone.

“Hey. You alright?”

Quinlan snapped back out of his thoughts and looked at the other man for a moment, “I’ll be fine. Just a lot to process. I don’t really remember a whole lot of what happened during the fight and till now. Perhaps this is less a divine second chance and more a simple mistake. I always believed if he was to be destroyed, then I would die same as the others. There was never any real proof that would happen, I just always thought it would,” after all, he lacked the worms. The pathogen did not control him the way it did the others. It was entirely possible that he had only just hoped that it would end his life, “He overpowered me in the end. I remember, somewhat, the bomb going off. I must have slipped from his grip and fell into the river,” that seemed a much more reasonable explanation than the universe intercepting his death.

Fet nodded slightly, “Probably best not to think about it too much. At least not right now. There’s plenty of time for it,” there seemed to be a more pressing matter, “Listen, people here wanted to cut your head off. They still do. Emmy and I have been keeping them at bay. They don’t understand that you’re not like the other munchers. I’m surprised Emmy was so reasonable about it, considerin’ she don’t know you and all,” there was a time when Fet didn’t see a difference either, “Just keep your head down and try not to stir up any trouble, okay?”

“I understand,” he had no issues with keeping to himself and out of the way.

There was another issue, which the human understood as well, “I know you have to feed. The people here have some cows and stuff, try not to get to them,” he could be sustained on those, “There’s deer and stuff across the river. Just let me know when you need to feed and I’ll take you over there,” it had been some time since he had to hunt wildlife for food. Quinlan didn’t like the idea of needing to go ask for help to feed, but he supposed the other option was not a favorable one. If he waited too long, not even Fet trying to grab him would break him out of his blood lust. He would drink Emmy dry and without hesitation if it got bad enough. Even if Fet managed to pull him off a second time, she would be dead before the Ukrainian man got his stinger out of her. It would be best to have to deal with the shame of needing help to hunt. 

At least till he felt like himself again. Once he felt he was fully recovered, he would leave. 

Quinlan wouldn’t burden anyone longer than he had to.


	2. Chapter 2

His first meal had been a goat they were planning on killing anyway. Goat blood always brought back bad memories of his time in the traveling freak show when he was called _The Leach_. They always fed him goats back then. Fet had brought it to him that first night and let him drain it. They kept it between them since Fet figured the others would refuse to eat it if they found out that he had fed from it. It was easy enough to slit it’s dry throat and pretend as if Fet had taken care of it the old fashion way.

It had been nearly a month since he woke up here. The town was small and located on a small island. The people had taken advantage of the location wisely during the Master’s reign. The original bridges to the island had been torn down and only a new one put up recently. It was small, wooden, and shaky; but it got the job done. Communication across the nation was still in the process of being reconstructed, so they didn’t have much contact with the rest of the world. It reminded him of a old farming village he had passed through many, many years ago. They were people who had lived fairly close to this way before the Master. Farmers from a small town that was once nearby. 

Quinlan had kept to himself. Staying in the small room that was attached to the house Fet stayed in. Fet was an outsider, but he was strong and people respected him and the parts he had played in ending the Master. The hybrid did his best to remain unseen. He knew the people who lived here would never trust him and he did not want to make it harder than it had to be. It was easy to just sit alone in the room and be with his thoughts.

But hunger began to rise up again. 

He found himself standing on the edge of the bridge and staring at the trees across the water. He could hear the sound of rushing blood. The sound of branches and grass moving just a bit as something walked through the trees. He could smell the meat and dirty fur. There was a small group of deer nearby. A large enough one would tide him over for another few weeks. His stinger rattled deep in his chest as he thought about it. He needed to feed.

It was late and he knew Fet was fast asleep. He should have asked him sooner to take him across. Quinlan was a lot of things, but he was attempting to be more considerate. He told himself that he could wait till sunrise, but his stinger told him otherwise. All he could do while he sat in his small room was think of blood. Fet’s room was the closest to his and it was a thundering noise in his head. The goat blood kept him going, but as it wore off, he was more desperate for human blood. 

Even worse, he thought of the poor woman he had terrified. Emmy, Fet had said her name was. He could overpower her quick and easy; and she was close. He could see her moving around parts of their home from the window of his room.

He looked out over the water. It was calm, barely a ripple passing over the surface. It was amazing that the water was still drinkable considering what had happened just thirty miles up river with the bomb. Somehow, the water was still safe and the fish in it seemed unharmed. The Born imagined it had something to do with the end of the Master itself. The bomb had purified a plague on this world. Whatever God there was had seen fit to spare the area the damage that should have been caused.

Quinlan had always liked looking at water. It was an amazing thing. He could shower and sit in baths of water, but there was something about an open body of water that he just couldn’t understand. He didn’t remember what it felt like to be in the water, but Fet had said they found him on the shore. He wasn’t sure how, but the idea of crossing the bridge on his own made him feel repulsed. He just couldn’t will his legs to move.

“Do you need help?”

The voice surprised him. He had focused his attention on the deer. In some way, he was hoping he could mentally will them across the bridge to him. He realized how ridiculous that was. He told himself it was the hunger making him that way. 

Turning quickly, he saw Emmy. She was watching him from a distance. He had only seen her from the window of his room. She hadn’t come back since he’d attacked her. It surprised him when he realized that her home was across from his window. He pushed the blanket aside and opened the shutters at night to feel the breeze and could see her sometimes. She lived with her mother, father, and toddler cousin. Fet told him that she had been a school teacher. There were only a handful of children on the island, but she took care of their educational needs till a more proper school system was set back up. Quinlan had a certain amount of respect for educators. 

She appeared to be of Roman descent. Her family name was Serguis. An old name, not too common anymore. Latin for _Servant_ , which spoke more about her family history than anything else. He always held the Romans in high regard. Though he doubted there was much Roman in her. Her mother appeared very Northern European and he imagined the tone of her skin had more to do with time outside than it did being genetic.

“Are you okay?” he realized that he had been staring at her silently. She pulled the neck of her sweater up a bit in a defensive manner to cover her neck. She hadn’t forgot the attack in the least and he didn’t blame her. It was a good thing too. Much like Fet, almost all he could hear was the deafening sound of her heart beating. 

“I’m fine,” he lied.

He watched as she shifted nervously on her feet. He could sense her anxiety and fear at being this close to him, “I just...I saw you out here. I thought you might need some help. Fet told me that your kind can’t cross running water without human assistance.”

“That is true, but I am fine. I just wanted some fresh air.”

“Do your kind breath?” whether she meant to or not, she called him out on his lie. It was true, he had no need to breath. Lungs existed in his chest, but they were rarely used. A full breed did not use them at all. He only did as an attempt to access part of his humanity.

“I do...on occasion.”

Her arms wrapped around herself and she rubbed her arms through her sweater. She shifted uncomfortably again, “Oh. Okay then. I’m going to...uh...go back inside then,” she nodded lightly before taking a few steps backwards. He wondered how far away she would have to get from him before she turned her back to him. 

It ended up being about four feet. He wondered how much she knew about his kind. Obviously not enough to know that his stinger could reach up to at least six feet. It rattled in his chest again and he managed to stop himself when he realized he was taking a step towards her. He could have her on the ground, drained, and dead in just seconds. 

“Wait.”

Emmy stopped and turned back to him, “Yes?”

“There are deer nearby. I need to feed. I thought I could wait till sunrise. I hate to have to ask, but would you go get Fet for me?” he didn’t trust himself to do it. The closer he got to the grouping of small houses, the harder it would be to resist attacking. Seeing Fet asleep, hearing his heart beating, knowing Emmy was vulnerable; it would be hard to ignore the urge to feed on them.

She hesitated and looked down at her feet for several moments, “I can take you. It’s just across the bridge, right? Fet has a lot to do tomorrow working on some cars,” they were attempting to get several trucks working to start trading with other nearby towns. It would be winter soon. The first winter after the Master’s fall. They would need to stock up on supplies.

It was a bad idea. Emmy was untrained in fighting. She had likely lived a rather simple life. He could easily overpower her if he was unable to find the deer, “...Very well, but you must stay on the bridge. Once we get across, I want you to go back to the middle,” he wouldn’t be able to get her there, “How good can you see my throat?” he lifted his chin up a bit, “Can you see how pale my neck is?”

“Y-yes…” 

“If it is not flushed red when I return, go back home. Stay at least six feet away from me. Do you understand?” if he failed to feed, at least she would get away safe and he wouldn’t be able to get back to the town to hurt anyone if she wasn’t there to take him back across the bridge.

She nodded quickly, “Yes. I understand,” he watched as she moved slowly towards him, stopping a foot or two away, “What...what do I need to do?”

“Just walk me across the bridge. I’m afraid you will have to touch me. Just a little. My elbow, shoulder, forearm...anything will do. Are you alright with that?”

After a moment of hesitation, she nodded and finally closed the gap between them, “I can do that,” she didn’t talk much. Not that he expected her to be with someone like him.

She managed to surprise him as she reached out and slipped her hand inside his own. Her fingers and palm felt cool against his own feverish skin. With the exception of their blood, when fresh, humans were cold beings to him. At least physically. Not wanting to offend, he curled his fingers around hers. Emmy took the lead and started onto the bridge.

They were both silent for a minute. The walk wouldn’t be a long one, but it felt strangely long as he stared straight ahead. The other end didn’t seem to be getting any closer, “I’m sorry for attacking you,” he blurted out. Awkward silences were not something he was a stranger to, but he did feel the need to apologize for what he had done.

“It’s alright. Fet explained it to me. That’s why he didn’t want me going in there by myself. In case you woke up hungry. I’m not sure how long it would take, but humans can be prone to the same thing. Deprived of food or water, we will eat or drink things we know we shouldn’t when desperate. Such as sea water,” it was a nice excuse, but drinking sea water only harmed the person doing the drinking. When he was desperate, other people paid the price for it.

“Doesn’t change the fact that I am truly sorry for it happening. I am, usually, very much in control of myself.”

“I accept your apology, even if I don’t feel it is completely necessary,” Quinlan liked the way she spoke. There was little to no slang for him to interpret. While there was a small accent, it was not overpowering. She also annunciated her words clearly. He supposed it came from her years as a teacher. She wanted her students to speak properly and clearly, so she taught them by example. It was admirable. 

It wasn’t that he believed the way one spoke had anything to do with their intelligence. But he had grown weary of humans and their behaviors. The way Emmy spoke was just simple and it made it easy to understand her.

“Thank you,” he was glad for her acceptance, though his attention was drawn to the sound of several heart beats. The deer were still close. They would be easy prey for him. He could tie himself over with two of them for several weeks. Perhaps he could convince Fet to let him build a small pin to keep his own livestock in. If he had access to his own small supply, he might start to feel like himself more quickly. A small feeding daily from a sheep, goat, or deer might work out in his favor. Then he could leave sooner.

They reached the end of the bridge and he slid his hand from hers, “Will it be long?”

His eyes scanned the nearby trees. The scent of the deer was strong, “Not long...Go back to the center of the bridge. When I come back, do not come back for me till I show you my neck.”

“Understood,” he eyed her hand as she reached out and touched his shoulder for a brief moment before crossing the crudely made bridge and leaning against the rail.

Quinlan watched her for a minute before turning his attention back to the animals. His stinger rattled in excitement at the prospect of food. He was desperate to satisfy his hunger.


	3. Chapter 3

What was one night of feeding turned into a nightly ritual. The deer could have held him over for several weeks, but he found himself standing at the edge of the bridge again the next night and Emmy came out to meet him again. He was more clear headed the second night and the walk was even slower as they talked a bit more across the bridge. Once he fed, they would go back to the small town and she would head to her home and he would go back to his room. 

By the end of the first week, he realized that he came to anticipate their nightly walks across the bridge. As expected, she had lived a rather simple life. Grew up not far from here and moved to New York for college. She traveled between her home and the city for many years. During the school year, she taught at a school in the city and in the summer she came home to help with summer schooling. She had been engaged to another teacher before the outbreak, but she had been on her way out of the city before it all happened. Her mother had been ill and she took an early leave from her school in the city. Her fiance had been unable to get the time off and it was likely that he had been turned like many others.

Her students were her life. She was not one to go out at night to drink or things of that nature. She admitted that the last time her and her fiance actually had a date had been several months before the outbreak. Their relationship had been more friendly than romantic. How it escalated to the point of engagement, she had not stated, but he assumed it was more out of an appeal for normalcy than anything else. He knew that feeling well. Quinlan had never intended on developing feelings for his wife so long ago. He had done so much in his life prior to meeting her to feel ‘human’ and falling in love had not been an expectation he had. 

It was somewhat nice to look forward to their walks and talks. Emmy was simple and one would think he would find her boring, but he didn’t. She gave him a sense of humanity again. Something he had avoided for a long time. He didn’t want to make the same mistake twice. Then he realized that it was different now. The Master wouldn’t show up and turn her just to hurt him. There was no risk to her other than people speaking poorly of her for her choice to speak with him. He found her presence comforting.

After several weeks of this, Quinlan noticed that he still didn’t feel recovered. There was a strength lacking in his muscles. He didn’t move quite as fast as he once did. He was hungrier more often. His mind wandered off and he lost focus more easily. Even with daily feeding, he wasn’t _there_ yet. He feared that it would take feeding from a human to get himself back to full strength. It was easy, in the past, to feed from criminals, but these people were not bad people. Scared of him, but not bad.

“Are you alright?” her voice brought his attention back. He had finished feeding on several small racoons. They were nowhere near as satisfying as something as large as a deer or a goat, but they would suffice for tonight. He realized he had been staring over the edge of the bridge and down into the dark water. Emmy was next to him, her shoulder touching the side of his arm lightly. She had, mostly, got over her fear of being close to him. The only time she seemed to worry was when his stinger would click and rattle. He couldn’t fault her for that.

“I’m fine,” he liked looking into the water. After so many years on this planet, he realized that he had never really spent time looking down at water like this. With assistance, he simply crossed it, never stopping to just look down at it. To watch it flow below him. Knowing that it disappeared under his feet. There was so much life in just a drop of water. All kinds of tiny organisms. A whole world fit into just a pin drop of water. Quinlan found himself a bit envious of Emmy. She had the chance to explore what was under the surface, if she wanted to, “Just thinking.”

“What about?” they rarely talked about him. He preferred to keep the subject of their talks to her life and work.

Quinlan looked down at their hands. Even though their arms were touching, their hands were still together. Her dark olive skin stood out against his bleach bone colored fingers. Without thinking, he pushed his fingers between hers, twining their hands together. They had done this several times. It was comforting. Her thumb would stroke along the side of his thumb and he shivered a bit. 

It was dangerous territory and he knew it. As much as he hated it, he had heard of fictional stories about girls being swept off their feet by brooding vampires, passionate werewolves, and the like. It put a bad light on how the situation really played out. Quinlan doubted there would ever be a romantic vampire story written again after the damage the Master had caused. No one would mistake them for romantic beings again, “Nothing really,” he believed Emmy too smart to think such things, “We should head back. You need to get some rest.”

They had been out later than usual tonight. He knew she did a lot around the small town and he didn’t want to be the reason for her being sluggish, “Okay,” she smiled softly and started to lead him towards the houses, “I was wondering, do you think you would feel comfortable coming to speak with my students?” there were only a handful of children, but they spent at least five hours a day with her. Quinlan heard the words ‘babysitter’ tossed around and found himself upset with it, “We are starting to discuss the rise and fall of the Roman empire,” while their conversations focused primarily on her, he had let slip a few small things. Mostly just that he was alive during that time and not much else, “I think they would benefit greatly from hearing your experiences.”

Quinlan was hesitant to agree, “I am not sure that would be a good idea,” there was a lot of blood involved. He had hurt and killed many people. Many of those people had been killed simply for the entertainment of others in the arena.

“Oh, I wasn’t expecting you to go into great detail about it. I know that life back then was...different. I try not to sugar coat things for my students, but I also do not want them getting nightmares,” she smiled again, “Perhaps just focusing on the experience overall, rather than the day to day life. The advancements to society that they provided. After all, the Romans had a wonderful empire for a time. A true civilization. Nothing like…”

“The factory cities of today.”

“Exactly!”

Quinlan thought about it for a few minutes while they walked. Children were difficult things. They were unpredictable. He doubted they would want to stay on the subject of a fallen civilization for long. They would want to know more about him. About what he was. He wanted to believe that Emmy was a strict sort of teacher who wouldn’t allow them to ask those things, “Very well. I will speak with them.”

Her fingers gripped his tighter and she smiled wide, “Thank you,” she managed to stay composed, but he could hear her heart beating faster. She was excited at the prospect of her students hearing stories of Ancient Rome from someone who had been there. He wondered if she was excited to be able to hear them herself too, “I very much appreciate it. More than you realize,” he did realize it, however.

He also realized that they had left the bridge a bit ago, but their hands were still wrapped together.

“I’m happy to be of help,” the other people wouldn’t allow him to help them around the town. Fet let him do a few things, but he spent most of his time sitting alone in his room doing nothing. Trapped with his own thoughts and this nagging feeling that his body was never going to feel the same as it had before.

“Again, thank you. It means a great deal to me,” her fingers finally slipped away from his, but only to travel up his arm and to his shoulder. She used it as leverage to lean up on her toes and kiss his cheek softly, “I hope you rest well,” Emmy broke away from him and started for her home, leaving him to stare after her.

Quinlan told himself that she was just being grateful. Affectionately so, but still just grateful.


	4. Chapter 4

“Do you think he has a...you know…?”

The Born’s eyes widened a little as the conversation hit his ears. Quinlan wasn’t normally one for eavesdropping, but it happened on occasion. His hearing was far superior to the average human and he tended to pick up on things that pertained to him.

“Monica! That’s inappropriate. I’m not going to talk about that.”

“Oh come on. Don’t be a prude. I’ve seen pictures of those things. None of them have anything down there, but those pants fit him a little too nice. You spend the most time with him…”

“I said I’m not going to talk about that. Whether Quinlan has...parts...is his business and his business alone. I really have no desire to know one way or the other,” he knew that tone of voice. Emmy was putting her foot down and he was somewhat thankful for that.

There were several times he heard people discussing him when they thought he couldn’t hear. Most of the conversations were about what a freak he was and how Fet was insane for convincing them to let him stay here. There were several conversations about how they thought it was dangerous for Emmy to go out with him at night and how they were going find her dead one morning. Quinlan was used to these things. Even the humans who had once allied with him, usually for money, had rarely been comfortable being near him.

“Aren’t you just a little bit curious? You spend all those nights alone with him…”

“And he is not removing his clothing during those nights. We just talk. Mostly about me, but it is just talking.”

It seemed like a good time to end the conversation. He made his way over to the two women who were standing outside her family home. It was where she did her classes for the children. Monica was a woman of similar age, but she was taller than Emmy and more slender. With long blond hair that reminded him of Dutch’s hair. She was louder and more outgoing than Emmy. He had nothing against the woman, but after a lifetime of what he had been through, Emmy’s quiet demeanor was welcomed.

Monica stood up straighter as he came closer. He was dressed in a black, hooded sweater with sunglasses and jeans. Fet said that he had been found nude and by Emmy. So he knew for a fact that she was well aware of what he had between his legs. She was simply kind enough not to make it a topic of conversation. The clothing was a little large on him. While he was a well toned man, he did not have the same shoulder width or bulk that Fet did.

“Good afternoon,” he said lightly.

Where Monica was wearing tight, blue jeans and a somewhat low cut shirt; Emmy was dressed in a long sleeve, green dress that went nearly down to her ankles. It was form fitting at the top, but the skirt flowed out from her waist. It was a little odd, but she was wearing a pair of faux combat boots on her feet. She always wore them, at least from what he had seen of her, “Hello, Quinlan,” she said with a small smile, “I’m glad you could come.”

“I gave you my word that I would,” he had made a life out of lying, but he was trying to do better now. It helped that he had nothing else to do.

“The kids are excited.”

Monica smirked, “Only because they think they can convince him to tell them about all the people he killed.”

She looked up at his sunglasses and he could see her cheeks turn a little pink, could feel her heart beat a little faster, “You don’t...you don’t have to talk about that stuff. I told them not to ask those kinds of things.”

“It’s alright. Children are bluntly honest people. Can’t fault them for that,” he remembered his adopted daughter. She was really the only child he had any experience with. Even through his long years, he managed to keep his distance from children as often as he could. They generally made him uncomfortable. The girl had been very curious about him. She asked him all sorts of things. She never hesitated in the things she said. The idea of going into a room with several of them was surprisingly nerve wracking.

“The trick is to redirect the question back onto the subject,” which sounded simple enough.

“Right,” Monica started, “Like when one of the little beasts asks you how many people you killed in New York, you just say _‘Not nearly as many as I did in some war in some year in Rome where they happened to invent the Julian Calendar’_ ,” the woman smirked as Emmy glared at her.

“I’m surprised you know what a Julian Calendar is, Monica,” she snipped and he felt the corners of his mouth twitch a bit.

“I listen to you...sometimes. Here come the little heathens,” she pointed out to the small group of kids who were making their way up. A few had their family members with them, looking very concerned to see Quinlan so close to the two women and where they were bringing their children. The parents didn’t usually bring their children, they just knew when to come, “Looks like you have a mob on your hands today. Want me to stay?” while Monica appeared to not have the same issues with him that others did, she was also not comfortable with him.

He shook his head a bit. Quinlan knew this was a bad idea. They didn’t want him around their children anymore than he wanted to be around them, “I should go,” while the idea of being in front of the little humans was uncomfortable, he had been looking forward to it. Just a little. As a way to pay Emmy back for her assistance in his feedings, “This was not a good idea.”

“Nonsense,” he felt her fingers brush the back of his hand and instinctively turned his hand to wrap around hers, “You can go, Monica. No need for you to deal with this. Upset parents are never in small supply, but they are noisy. I can handle it,” her fingers stroked his hand for a moment before she pulled free of the grasp, “Wait here, Quinlan.”

He watched as Emmy went to head the small group off before they got too close. Monica didn’t leave right away. Instead she leaned nearer to him and spoke low, “Listen, I don’t want to know what’s going on between you two, but if you hurt her, I’ll make sure you regret it. We have been best friends our whole lives and she went through so much with her fiance. If you are taking advantage of that, I’ll cut your head off myself. I once set a guy’s car on fire for cheating on me, so don’t think I won’t try it,” he glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes and sunglasses. She had to know that attacking him would be a fruitless endeavour. Yet she threatened anyway. Out of loyalty and love for her friend.

“I have no intentions towards her. My kind don’t feel those things,” he had crushed them away a long time ago, “Once I’m recovered, I plan on leaving,” though he did find his interest peaked at the mention of Emmy having gone through something with her fiance. He assumed the man had been turned and was now dead. Their conversations about him were brief. He never got the sense that she was vulnerable in anyway from the relationship.

The woman didn’t say anything else. She just huffed a little before heading off back to whatever it was she did for the small town. Everyone had a job. Some had several. His attention went back to Emmy.

“You can’t really expect us to let that thing in there with our kids? Emmy, have you lost your mind?”

“There’s nothing wrong with him. He’s not one of those things. Not really,” she tried defending him, but he knew it wasn’t true. While he had some form of a humanity, he was more like the monsters than he liked to admit, “It is a good teaching experience for the kids. He’s seen the rise and fall of civilizations. He’s seen the invention of so many things we use today. Think of all the things he has had first hand experience and knowledge of.”

He felt his stinger rattle as one of the men raised his voice to her, but he restrained himself from going over to them, “That thing is a freak!”

“Jason, he’s not a freak. He’s a natural...oddity,” not that he saw anything natural about himself, “The most important thing is that he is here and the children should get used to seeing him. There’s no reason for them to be scared of him. We should let them decide for themselves if they want to hear Quinlan’s stories.”

“We’re not letting them in there with that thing, Emmy. We don’t trust it.”

“Fine,” this is what he had been waiting for. In the end, he knew she would cave for the sake of the children. He wasn’t disappointed, “I’ll work on setting up homeschooling packets for the children who can’t attend. You can go through the work with them and send them back to me for grading. Some things have changed since we got out of school. The math is done a bit differently. So I will be sure to send lengthy instructions on how to work through it. I only have a few copies of each textbook and the workbooks, they usually share while in class, but I’m sure if you all work out your schedules appropriately, you can find the time to pair up and take care of it at home.”

Once again, the corners of his mouth twitched. He wanted to tell her that this wasn’t necessary, but he got the feeling it wouldn’t matter. She didn’t give them a chance to breath as she continued on, “Now, for the kids who will be joining us in class today, you have ten minutes before we start. We will be discussing the roadways and aqueducts of Ancient Rome for history. Quinlan got to walk on many of the roads that are still in existence today, but when they were first laid. Personally, I’m excited to hear about it,” he had no trouble believing that she was truly interested in hearing about roads.

“You can’t do this!” several of them snapped.

Emmy just shrugged a little, “Take it up with Fet. Once the trucks are running again, you will be free to take your kids to another teacher. You might have to move and it will probably be fairly far away. They might not be interested in allowing outsiders in just yet. Think of it this way, it will be wonderful time to spend with your children on the round trip it will take to get there and back every day.”

She ignored them as they continued to vocalize their complaints and turned her back to head into the house. Quinlan followed after, taking his glasses off once they were inside, “You didn’t have to do that. Why did you do that?”

“Because I believe what I said. It’s a good teaching opportunity for the kids. If they want them to miss out on it, that will be put on their shoulders, not mine,” she lead him through the small house to the room where she taught. It was small, with just one long table in the center. There were a few bookshelves loaded with papers and textbooks. There was a small desk, where he assumed she sat at when the kids were doing their work. He also realized it was her bedroom. There was a small cot in the back corner with a folded blanket on it with a pillow. It was simple and part of him wasn’t really surprised that she slept where she worked. It seemed to fit her personality.

“They might not send the kids in today, but they will tomorrow. Once they have a chance to calm down and realize that they rely on the time the kids are in here to do other things. It’s hard to work with kids running around all day.”

Even though she said that the kids might not come in, she went about taking a few books from the shelf and setting them out between the chairs around the desk. He walked over to what appeared to be her desk and he eyed the things on it, “I hope you’re right. I don’t want to make things difficult for you.”

She chuckled a little, “Things are always difficult. I’ve worked constantly for most of my life. I’ve always been a bit awkward around people and that makes it hard to make friends. Working towards a career was the only thing that made sense. A career in teaching means growing a thick skin. It might not seem like it, but you have to put up with a lot. State regulations, federal regulations, testing regulations, trying to teach the kids even when the school just wants them to learn how to take a test to get more funding, parents blaming you for their child’s failing grades even though the child never does their homework, students getting angry because of the homework load even though you have no control over it, administrators telling you that you have to cram six months of work into one quarter, and spending most of your spare salary on supplies. It’s very easy to just fall into it all and never crawl out.”

Quinlan listened as he looked over the things on her desk more. He lifted up a picture frame and looked at it for several moments, “Is this...was this Bryan?”

“Huh? Oh. Yes,” she smiled a little before going back to setting out the school work for the day, even though it appeared that no one was coming in, “That was our seventh anniversary. Mother teased me the whole night about how we were celebrating six years of engagement instead of six years of marriage,” Emmy laughed a bit about it, but he had trouble seeing it as teasing while hearing about it.

Looking at the picture, he realized, somewhat, what Monica had been saying. He hadn’t known much about the man other than his name, that he had been a teacher as well, and that they had been engaged. He was not an unattractive man. Dirty blond hair, olive skin (though lighter than Emmy’s), and deep brown eyes. On the thinner side with thick, dark brown hair. What surprised him was that he was sitting in a wheelchair, “How did he injure himself?”

“He didn’t. He had cerebral palsy. The wheelchair wasn’t something he needed all the time, but it made things easier for him most days.”

“I’m...I’m so sorry. I didn’t…”

She smiled, “It’s alright. I didn’t mention it, so how would I expect you to know? He had many of the common issues found with those who have cerebral palsy, but he was very hard working. He wanted to be an example to children with similar disorders or disabilities. It was hard. He had to take a lot of time off work sometimes, but the school was good about helping him.”

“He sounds like he was a good man.”

“He was. We met at a lecture about helping students with various learning disorders and physical limitations. He was a speaker and I was the annoying one with a notebook full of questions who had their hand raised the majority of the time,” he let his mouth twitch into a small smile before setting the frame back down, “I wish he had come with me when I left the city…”

He didn’t want to bring up a sore subject for her, but he asked without thinking, “Why didn’t he come?” he wondered if she would have been as open to helping him at night if her fiance had been here.

“He had some work to take care of. He was preparing to go speak for a school for the blind. While not blind himself, it was more of a motivational speech. His cousin was going to come by and check on him for me. I never heard from either of them…” she pulled out one of the small chairs and slumped down into it. Her eyes staring down at the desk sullenly.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything,” he moved around quickly, realizing that he was the reason for the sudden change in her mood. Kneeling down by her, he slid an arm around her shoulders, “I’m not the most well versed in social graces.”

“It’s alright,” her voice was shaky, “Things weren’t perfect between us. He was severely depressed much of the time and made it hard to love him sometimes. He thought that I should be with someone else. We fought quite a bit. He wanted children one day and I can’t have them,” he hadn’t known that and was surprised to hear it, “But I really did love him. I wish I had made him come with me.”

“You can’t blame yourself for it,” part of him realized that he couldn’t entirely blame himself for his wife and daughter having been turned, but he did. If it hadn’t been for him, they would have lived out their lives. 

“I...I...I know…” she was trying to hold tears back. He could sense it in her voice. Her heart was pounding fast and her body was heating up. She was tense, but her shoulders were shaking under his arm.

Quinlan felt his own body tense as she turned against him and wrapped her arms around his neck before burying her head against his chest. His stinger rattled, desperate to sink into her throat and satisfy his need for human blood. She didn’t shy away the way she normally did when it rattled. She just sobbed quietly into his chest and he wrapped his arms around her tightly, “I’m sorry.”

“I-i-it’s alright…” she murmured softly. Quinlan couldn’t remember her ever stammering before. Not even when she’d been scared of him the first few nights.

“No. No it’s not,” he reached down and slipped his fingers under her chin, tilting it up, “I truly am sorry,” it was ages ago. He had been on a cliff. His father in front of him, the sun rising, he could have ended it all there. In a moment of human weakness, he hesitated and the monster got away. There were so many people that would be alive if it weren’t for his moment of weakness. Emmy would still be with her fiance if he had just killed the creature. Instead, he let the word _son_ get to him. His desperate need to have a place in the world had caused her a pain she didn’t deserve to feel.

The hybrid tensed again and his eyes went wide as Emmy leaned up and brushed her lips against his. He hesitated to react and she pressed her lips flush against his. Her eyes were closed and her arms tightened around his neck. The stinger rattled again, more excited this time, and he kept his lips closed tightly to restrain it. He sat, unmoving, as her lips crushed against his own. Her tears were wetting his own cheeks. Quinlan told himself that this wasn’t attraction, it was need for intimacy. He could have been any man and she would have done the same. 

He let her take what she needed. It lasted only a minute or so. Much like agreeing to speak with her students, he felt like it was the least he could do for her. She broke away, her hands sliding to his shoulders, and her eyes averting from him quickly. Her cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, “I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so sorry,” they both seemed to be good at apologizing excessively.

“No need to apologize,” he spoke softly, “Do you want me to go?”

Emmy sniffled back her tears and nodded slightly, “I think that would be for the best. I would prefer to be alone right now.”

Part of him had the urge to stay. To tell her that it was okay, to let her kiss him again, and hold her while she cried; if those were the things she needed. But he didn’t feel ready to do that. He wanted to get away from her. He was scared of hurting her. Of losing control and sinking his stinger into her. It was best to take the easy option and just leave. Even if it was cowardly.

Slowly, he slid away from her arms, leaving her to slump down into her own arms and bury her head against the table. He was nearly out of the room when he heard her sobbing more loudly this time. He felt ashamed of himself for having left her there.

While not entirely comparable, he once again had a chance to do the right thing and he chose wrong. He’d let his father escape once before and now he refused to give comfort to someone he had caused pain in.

Emmy deserved better than that.


	5. Chapter 5

“Done already?” Fet smirked as he pushed off the railing of the bridge, “That was quick.”

“Possums aren’t fast runners,” he muttered as he waited at the edge of the bridge for the tall man to come close enough to touch. 

His nightly feedings had gone down to only twice a week. It was fairly awkward to have to hold Fet’s arm to cross the bridge. It wasn’t as if the two of them hadn’t been through quite a lot together, but it wasn’t as pleasant as holding Emmy’s hand. Quinlan had taken to keeping large rodent animals in crates in his small room to make feeding easier. Tonight he was carrying back three unconscious possums. If he drank from them slowly, they would last him three or four days. 

“So, you ever gonna talk about it?”

He eyed the other man, “I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, come on, Half-Muncher,” he wasn’t pleased with the nickname, but it was said more endearingly than it once had been, “For three weeks you’ve been makin’ me do this. What happened to Emmy? She don’t even ask about you no more.”

He was somewhat pleased to hear that. He didn’t want her getting upset over him, “It was better for her to stop. Her student’s parents were getting upset and it was causing problems.”

“I heard about that. I thought she gave them a tongue lashing and they caved?”

Quinlan lied, “No. She promised not to have me around anymore.”

“Huh...Interesting. Not the way I heard it,” he didn’t sound convinced, “That’s pretty sad. She’s a good woman. Lonely and a little sad. You know about her fiance?” he nodded, his eyes straight ahead as they walked the bridge, “Sad stuff. She’s got a lot of friends and family ‘round here, but she’s not really close to any of them. Dad’s nice enough, but mom is a piece of work,” he got a sense of that from the few things she had said. She seemed the type of woman who thought that a woman’s place was to be married and having children. Emmy had failed to do either of those things, “She don’t really talk to a lot of people other than Monica and that woman is crazy.”

It hadn’t been lost on him that Emmy shared many qualities with his former wife. Little family, lost her husband (though Emmy hadn’t actually married her fiance), and willing to stand up to those around her when needed. Both were generally quiet people, but could talk at length when it was a subject that interested them.

The physical similarities were in the back of his mind as well. Sometimes he would catch her out of the corner of his eye and swear it was his Tasa. Her hair was a little shorter, but it was the same brown-black color with soft waves to it. Her blue eyes were soft and wide, the same lovely color as Tasa’s had been. Their height was not too dissimilar either. It was a little off putting to think about, but it was also comforting most other times.

“I’m sure she is happy with her social life,” he felt comfortable with Fet, but only because the man knew so much about everything that had happened; but he was not comfortable enough with anyone to discuss what had happened with Emmy.

Quinlan convinced himself that she had no attraction to him. That she had been sad and lonely. It could have been any man sitting there with her. It had been more than two years since the outbreak, so it was likely she had been without intimate contact for some time. For the most part, humans liked and desired attention on a physical level. Not all humans, but a good number of them. He had let himself get too close to Emmy and managed to spark that need in her. Reminded her of what she missed with Bryan.

“I’m not so sure ‘bout that. She’s not as happy anymore, ya know? Just kind of shuffles around and does her job.”

“What’s wrong with doing one’s job?” he didn’t understand what they wanted from her. She did her part in the community. Wasn’t that enough?

Fet shook his head a bit as they got to the end of the bridge and the hybrid released his forearm, “Nothin’ wrong with workin’, but there has to be more to life than that. I don’t know what she was like before everything, but before you two started hanging out, she barely talked to anyone. Then she was smilin’ all the time and she even started conversations. She never talked first before. I think you two hanging out was a good thing for her. Not sure what you two did, not sure I want to...but now she just sits in her room, teaches her classes, and only comes out for food. You two didn’t get into some kinda fight, did ya?”

“No,” there had been no fighting, so it wasn’t a lie, “She made a choice to put her students above everything else. I don’t see why that is a problem. It’s important to her.”

The tall man shrugged, “Whatever. Just think that you were good for her. Some people put their work before their own happiness. Who am I to judge?”

Quinlan held back, telling the other man that he wanted to stay out a bit longer. Fet told him to be careful and not get in any trouble. There was always the risk that the town people would ignore Fet and Emmy one day and try to mob attack him. He knew he could handle it, but not without hurting most of them.

After several minutes, he found himself standing outside her room window. He blamed Fet. If the man hadn’t brought her up, he would have just gone back to his room. Instead, he had tossed the possums into their crates outside his room window and found himself looking over to her window. The lights were out in the house. He saw a shadow move past her window and realized it was her settling down. Maybe she had been up working or possibly having just got something to drink. He waited an hour or so before walking over and peering inside. 

He could see the outlines of her desks and the shelves. His blue eyes drifted over to her cot and he saw her bundled up on it. She was wrapped up tight in the thin blanket, with her hands tucked under her head, breathing slowly. Emmy was fast asleep and he realized how _creepy_ it was to be standing outside her window and watching her.

It was a terrible idea, but he did it anyway. Lifting his hand up and tapping his fingertip on the glass softly. After a moment, she only turned a bit and he sighed and tapped louder. When she still failed to respond, against all his good judgement, he pushed the window open and quietly climbed inside. He moved without making a sound. None of the floorboards creaked or groaned as his booted feet moved across them.

Kneeling down, he watched her sleep for a moment. His stinger rattled and he damned himself for it. She jerked awake at the sound and he reached out quick to cover her mouth. Her eyes shot open and were wide with fear as she looked at him. Quinlan could only imagine what was going through her head. She probably thought he was going to kill her, “I’m sorry. Don’t...Don’t scream. I just..want to talk,” he lowered his hand and watched as she scooted herself up against the wall and into a sitting position. Her fingers curled around the blanket and she pulled it tight up to her chest.

“What’re you doing here?” she asked softly before reaching up to rub at her eyes a little, “What time is it?”

“Late. Past midnight. I’m sorry, but I wanted to check on you.”

“Check on me?” a yawn passed her lips as she pulled the blanket up to her chin. He realized she was wearing much less than he was used to seeing her in. Her arms were bare and more of her chest was exposed due to the tank top she slept in. 

“Are you doing alright?”

She answered quickly, “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’m not sure. I just...just wanted to be sure. I’ll go now. I’m sorry for waking you.”

As he started to stand, he felt her fingers grip onto his arm, “Wait,” he lowered back down, this time settling onto the edge of the bed, “I’m the one that should be sorry. I shouldn’t have done what I did. It wasn’t appropriate. I was hoping you would come back by the next day, but you didn’t and then I saw Fet taking you across the bridge that night, so I assumed you didn’t want to see me again. That you were upset with me. Which you have every right to be.”

Reaching over, he wrapped his hand around the hand on his arm and held it tightly, “I wasn’t upset. I didn’t think you would want me to come by after bringing up such a sore subject. I didn’t want to be a bad reminder for you.”

Quinlan remembered the first time he actually talked with his wife. While they had talked a bit before marrying, it wasn’t deep conversations. Nothing about what he was or his life. Quinlan provided well for her and her child. Having a wife, a child, land, and a home. Things any human man needed at the time. 

It happened while he was away hunting. He only fed once a month in those days, but he fed on humans that kept him satisfied him much more than animals. He made sure to do so far from his home. That meant traveling at least a day or two away. When he returned, he found his home ransacked and his wife and child gone. He could smell other men. There had been several of them. A small puddle of blood matched the scent he got off his wife monthly. She had been injured. He found one of the men dead. Tasa had always been good at taking care of herself and at least she got one of them before they had managed to overpower her.

Rage overcame him and he was able to quickly hunt down the men. He didn’t care about the possessions they had taken. They had taken his wife and child for slavery. While he had never consummated the marriage, lacking the ability to do so, he still considered them legally bound. The child was, thankfully, unharmed. Mostly just dirty. Her mother, his wife, had taken the brunt of it. He could smell the men on her. She was bloodied and beaten rather badly.

Without hesitation, he tore apart everyone. He didn’t even feed on them. He tore their limbs from their bodies. Used his stinger to take out their eyes. He blocked out the screams the girl he had adopted as his own child as he mutilated everyone except for them. He was covered in their blood. There was nothing left of them other than bloody piles of flesh and bone. It took several minutes after he had stopped to be able to regain his focus.

Tasa and her child had cowered in the back of the cage when he tore it open. It was the first time since they had met that Tasa actually looked fearful of him. Quinlan left, letting them leave on their own time. He followed them back to their home, keeping his distance. Things were tense after that. He feared he had lost the love of the only person in his life that mattered.

At least till one evening when he was fixing a cart they used to transport the farm goods to the market. Her daughter came out to him. She sat, silently, watching him from a short distance. Only when he was finished did she move closer. She hugged him and thanked him for having saved them. Her tiny arms barely fit around his shoulders. Her small body was warm, but shivering in fear. He realized that she had fought through her fear to thank him. It meant more to him than he had thought it would. 

Shortly after that, he was heading down to the basement where he had been sleeping since the incident when his wife asked him if he would come have dinner with them. Even though Quinlan couldn’t digest human food, he accepted the offer. The meal was quiet, but nice. It smelled nice and he always figured his Tasa to be a decent cook. When they were done eating, she took their daughter to bed and came back to handle the dishes. Even though he did not eat, he had started cleaning and even commented to her that the meal had looked nice. She asked if he could eat at all.

It was that night that he had his first real conversation about himself with her.. Several months later, they would finally consummate their marriage with physical intimacy. Quinlan knew love and real happiness. Not that it lasted.

“It wasn’t a bad reminder. I know I cried, but not because I was upset. I was just overwhelmed. No one ever lets me talk about Bryan. I mean, they would, but I don’t like the way they look at me about it. They just brush it off and act like it doesn’t matter. Like I shouldn’t talk about it because everyone lost someone. I’m not wanting pity or anything like that. I just want to…”

“Talk.”

She nodded lightly, “You didn’t mind when I talked about anything,” not that she had brought Bryan up much, but he figured she had been holding back speaking for a long time. He could go years without speaking to someone, but he realized that not everyone had the mental ability to do that, “I’m sorry I kissed you. I shouldn’t have done that. I feel like I took advantage of your kindness.”

Without thinking, he pulled her hand up to rest against his cheek. Her fingertips stroked the feverish skin softly, “You didn’t take advantage in the least. I was worried I had done the same to you. You needed...closeness...and I was happy to provide it,” Quinlan couldn’t remember the last time he had said he was happy to do something.

Slowly, she moved over to him, sliding her arms around his neck and pressing her forehead against his, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Does this mean we can walk the bridge at night again? I’ve missed it.”

“I’ve missed it too. I would like it if we did,” he could stop keeping rodents in his room. He tilted his head a bit, touching the tip of his nose to hers for a moment before letting it brush against the top of her cheek. Their lips brushed and he could hear her heart. It was so loud in his ears. He could feel her head moving as well, tilting into position for him, “We don’t have to do this…” he wanted to give her an out. Quinlan felt happy to provide her with whatever comfort she needed.

“I know…” she said softly as their lips touched again. 

The kisses were soft and pecking. He rested his hands on her hips and slid his eyes shut as they kissed. Their lips would touch for only a moment and then part for a moment before reconnecting. It was like his first kisses with his wife. He had never done such things before and she had been gentle with him. Calming him down with reassuring words when he would go too fast or too eagerly. While he still lacked the experience most probably assumed he had, he remembered how to kiss.

His stinger rattled and she finally stopped the kisses. They both sat, foreheads pressed together again, silently for several long minutes, “I should go.”

Emmy nodded before kissing him again, softly and briefly before speaking, “Can we go walking tomorrow night?”

“Of course,” he kissed her this time before she released her arms from his neck and allowed him to leave.

Quinlan knew this wasn’t what they should have been doing, but he tried to justify it. He had lived a long life and if he was indeed being given a true second chance at life, didn’t he deserve to claim some happiness for himself? Even if it would be short lived? He couldn’t see Emmy’s affection for him lasting long. It would be a comforting feeling for the time being. Thus far, in his new life, he had seen no signs of anything out of place. The Ancients were all gone, as were their spawns. 

He was being given the chance to live out a human life.


	6. Chapter 6

Fingers curled into her dark hair as he peppered kisses along her cheeks and lips. It felt good to feel a woman against his body this way again. As much as he wished he could claim that his wife had been the last woman he had been with, she wasn’t. Though there had only been one other. That didn’t seem to matter right now though. Emmy’s soft, pleasant noises as he kissed her was all that mattered. 

He had been nervous to kiss her the first few nights. They had worked out a routine for it. While he could kiss and touch her before feeding, his stinger would rattle and click. He even had to bite it back a few times, which would cause lines of worry and fear on her face. Quinlan hadn’t thought she would be open to kissing him after feeding, but she seemed to prefer that to the noisy stinger threatening her.

A pleasant sigh escaped her mouth as he cupped her face and pressed their lips together again. He found that he enjoyed kissing quite a bit. He’d always enjoyed it with Tasa. Her lips were soft and full. She had tried to press her tongue into his mouth once, but he had to warn her against that. His teeth were sharper than they looked and his own tongue was uniquely designed to allow his stinger to come through it by splitting and expanding. If she cut her tongue in his mouth, on his teeth, and he tasted her blood, he might not be able to control himself. The same warning had been given to his wife once. As curious as he was to know what it felt like to have a tongue wrapped around his own, he wasn’t willing to risk it.

“Mmm...Quinlan…” she moaned lightly as he slid his fingers back through her hair and to hold the back of her head. 

They were standing just off the bridge away from the town and under a tree. Emmy’s back was pressed to the tree, pinned by his body. It felt wonderful. They spent nearly an hour like this every night. They would meet up after sunset, talk for a while, cross the bridge to allow him to feed, then come to the same tree and _make out_ (as Fet called it) for some time before heading back for the evening. The kisses were soft and simple at first, but grew more intense as the nights went on. 

Their talks were more private now. He confessed things to her. About things he had done and regretted. Even touched on the subject of his wife. He was slowly getting into the history of exactly what his kind was, but that was still a new subject, even for him. The idea that they came from an angel, in some way, was confusing and would take time and research. Though a part of Quinlan wasn’t eager to look deeper into it. That part of his life was over. Finally. It felt good to open up to someone again. With the Master gone, he didn’t fear being killed before getting his revenge. Somehow, that made it easier.

One of his hands traveled over her shoulder, down her arm, and to her hip. Touching was still new to them. Other than a few light touches to their arms, they didn’t go very far. Not that his body didn’t want him to. For the first time in decades, he was feeling desire. It urged him to slide his hand down her hip to her thigh and tug it up towards his hip. She gasped softly in surprise as he pressed himself between her thighs. 

Her hands slid to his shoulders and she pressed gently to break the kiss and put some distance between them. A bit reluctantly, he allowed the kiss to end and looked down at her, “Is this too much?” 

“A little. I’m sorry.”

His fingers released her thigh and he put a few inches between their hips, “Don’t be sorry. I should have asked first,” he hadn’t realized how much he missed holding a woman till he felt himself between her legs, even if it was only for a few moments. He brought his hand back up to her face, to join his other hand in her hair, as he leaned in to kiss her again; but she tilted her head down to evade it, “Something wrong?”

“We should go back.”

“Are you sure?” her heart was still racing and her body felt hot. He had been sure she was still interested in continuing their kissing. Quinlan hadn’t thought touching her leg had been that awkward for her, but apparently it had been, “I really am sorry for what I did. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“That’s...that’s not it…” he could tell she was lying. It had been off putting for her, “I mean, it’s just been a long time…” 

Brushing some hair from her face, he leaned down to kiss her cheeks before tilting her head up with his fingertips. He realized that the last man she had likely been with was her fiance. They had been together for a decade, longer than he had even been with Tasa, “I hope you don’t think that I was wanting _more_ ,” not that he would have been disappointed if it had turned into more. His body was having desires it hadn’t had in a very long time. He’d managed to crush those urges many years ago, but with the weight of the Master and the Ancients lifted off his shoulders, he felt free to feel something other than anger again. 

And while he had enjoyed the brief moment between her thighs, she had to know that it wasn’t as if much could happen between them. Quinlan knew how to pleasure a woman, or at least he felt he did, but that didn’t mean she had to be with him the way she had her fiance. She couldn’t.

“I know,” Emmy’s fingers stroked over his shoulders as she looked down again, “You’ve been very kind to me about everything. It just makes me a little nervous.”

“Do you think I’m going to hurt you?” not that he could promise that he wouldn’t. Quinlan would do everything he could to keep from feeding on humans again, but past experiences told him that it wasn’t entirely his choice. He knew that the sound of his stinger still terrified her. The few times he felt himself losing control of it, he would make her leave so he could go feed again. But he could promise that he would never violate her, ”You know I can’t…” 

“No. No. Not that,” at least not at the moment, it appeared, “Bryan and I,” he tried not to let it bother him when she brought him up so soon after they were kissing. Quinlan still believed she was only allowing him to be intimate with her the way they had due to needing the physical comfort and not out of real want of him, “He couldn’t hold me like that…” he imagined intimacy between them had been different from most, “Quinlan, I want to tell you something, but you have to promise me that you won’t make a big deal out of it.”

He didn’t like promising to things that he didn’t know, but he could tell that it was important to her, “I promise.”

“And not to laugh at me about it.”

That was an easy one. He wasn’t much one for laughing, “I won’t.”

“Quinlan...Bryan and I, we never...we were together for a long time, but we just…” Emmy paused for several moments, “It was never very important to either of us…”

He stroked her cheek softly and smiled, “If you’re trying to say that it’s been a long time since you have had sex, I understand. I’m not expecting that to happen. It can’t,” not that his mind didn’t desire it. Quinlan imagined it was difficult for a man who could be with a woman, but couldn’t find a mate. It was even worse having the desire for it and being completely incapable. The opportunity for it had only happened a bare handful of times in his long life, but when it did, he was left unable to satisfy the strange urges his mind made him have.

“I know,” she bit her lower lip hard before continuing, “It’s been more than a long time since I’ve had sex, Quinlan. I’ve never had sex. With anyone.”

“That...that would mean that…”

“I’m a virgin.”

He nodded a little as he let it sink in, “Oh…” he wasn’t sure what else to say about it. Some deep, primal part of him found the idea of her being _untouched_ exciting. Another part of him was surprised a woman her age in this day could be a virgin. He doubted it was anything like the virgins of old days. Sex was everywhere in the modern world. It was likely she was well aware of it, just that she hadn’t actually partaken in it, “You were with Bryan for such a long time, I assumed…”

“I’m sure most people do. Actually, I’m positive they do. They ask awkward questions about it,” he wouldn’t deny that he had been mildly curious about it as well given the man’s conditions, “But we just never got there. It wasn’t that important to us. It would have taken quite a bit of work and since I can’t have children, we just decided that it wasn’t worth the effort,” she had mentioned being barren more than once, but he never pressed the subject, “Bryan was my first relationship. I never really put myself in the position to do _that_ before meeting him and when I felt you that close, I just got nervous. I know it’s not something that is going to happen...”

He cut her off, pulling her close and wrapping his arms tight around her shoulders, “I didn’t mean to make you nervous,” not that he could help it. If she wasn’t worried about him pushing her into sex that she logically couldn’t happen, she would be worried about him killing her.

“I know you didn’t,” she slid her arms around his neck and buried against his shoulder.

He pecked a few small kisses on her temple before pulling away, “We should get you home. It’s getting late,” they had stayed out later, but he doubted making out was what she wanted to do at the moment.

Emmy stood on her toes to kiss the tip of his nose. It was sweet, “I’d like that.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Would you like me to come back to your room?” she asked softly as they crossed the bridge. They had finished with their usual routine and Emmy would normally return home. Since her confession as a virgin, Quinlan had done his best not to put her into any awkward situations. He controlled himself completely. Other than holding her hand to cross the bridge and touching her face and hair when they kissed, he kept his distance. Reasonably, her question caught him a little off guard.

“You want to come to my room? This late?”

He could feel her hand tense in his. She was nervous, “I was thinking we could sleep together. I mean…” she realized her wording, “We could just lay together and sleep. I thought that it might be nice,” their ‘almost’ relationship had been going on for quite some time. He was slowly beginning to see that Emmy was attracted to him. Perhaps not at first, but her feelings were growing.

“I would enjoy that. If that is what you would like to do,” it was hard not to press against her when they kissed or to have to catch himself as a hand would start to wander down her arm, “You don’t have to, if you don’t want to.”

She smiled and stopped walking, tugging his arm a little as she leaned back against the bridge rail. He turned and pressed against her, his free hand reaching up to cup her cheek, “I want to. I feel comfortable with you, Quinlan. Safe with you.”

Her soft, blue eyes locked onto his and he couldn’t help but feel strangely. This was a show of trust for her. She was willing to put herself in an even more vulnerable position to show how much she trusted him. She knew he was a danger to her. He could kill her and there would be nothing she could do to stop him. She wasn’t trained the way some other humans he had met were. Even if she was, those humans usually still didn’t stand much of a chance against him. What she wanted to do and her reasons for it made him feel warm and light. Like he did the first night his wife took him back to her bed.

The corners of his mouth curled a little before he leaned down to brush their lips together, “I feel honored that you feel that way. It means a lot more than I can say.”

She smiled again and kissed him softly. It all felt normal and human. Having a woman in his arms, a place to sleep, a somewhat steady food supply, no one to fight, and no burden anymore. It was relaxing and something he was starting to get used to. Every day, a little more tension left his body. He was starting to wonder if he would feel human one day. Granted, he knew he could never change his anatomy, but he could feel a change in his mentality.

They made their way slowly to the house he shared with Fet. He led her, quietly, through the house to his room. She slipped inside and he spotted Fet down the hallway with a big grin on his face. Quinlan shook his head before following her inside and closing the door.

The room was nearly as sparse as it had been when he first woke up. The only difference was a few books on the small table. They were books Emmy had given him to read. Nothing new or special, just some things she had managed to save. They kept his mind busy when he had nothing better to do. He had read them at least half a dozen times. Human literature was something that always amazed him. Like tiny little worlds put onto paper out of the minds of complex brains.

He watched her for a moment as she settled on the edge of the bed. The window was open and there was a bit of moonlight lighting the room through the trees. The night air smelled good out here. He always hated the dirty smell of the big cities. It was much cleaner here.

Emmy was wringing her hands tightly in her lap as he walked over and settled down next to her, sliding his arm around her shoulders, “We don’t have to do this.”

“I know, but I want to,” she leaned over and kissed his cheek softly, “I haven’t shared a bed with anyone in a few years.”

“It’s been over a century for me, if that makes you feel any better,” he felt her shoulders relax a little.

“It does. I’m sorry if I kick.”

“I’m sorry if I rattle,” he controlled it as best he could, but the longer he was close to a human without feeding on them, the harder it was. He tried to feed enough to satisfy it, but it was never really enough. He slept better when he fed on humans too. It seemed to fill him more.

It was awkward at first. Emmy didn’t seem ready to remove any clothing, not even her boots. Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, he kept the same amount of clothing on. While he shuttered and replaced the curtain on the window, she fussed with the pillow and blanket. He only had one pillow and he intended on allowing her to have it. 

They didn’t speak as he climbed onto the bed and settled back against the wall. He was unsure of how to position himself. He propped himself up on his side and found it difficult to look up at her. Emmy climbed up next to him, sitting on her knees and reaching over to slide her hands over his shoulders. Hesitantly, he reached up and slid his hands over her hips as she leaned down to kiss him. Their lips pressed together tightly. She sighed softly as he pulled her closer and down to the bed. Quinlan kept his hands firmly on her hips, not allowing them to wander, as they kissed heatedly for several minutes before they broke apart.

“Perhaps we should get some sleep?” not that he truly slept. It would take a great amount of blood to lull him into a trance like sleep. He more power napped. Short spurts of dozing, still semi conscious, almost like a cat. 

“We can, but we don’t have to,” her fingers stroked the back of his neck and the base of his skull, “Quinlan, I wouldn’t mind if we touched a little more. Not too much, but a little. If you’d like to.”

He did want to. He wanted to run his hands the length of her body. The half-breed wanted to show her that he could pleasure a woman, even if he wasn’t equipped to do so in the traditional sense, That wasn’t likely to happen though and Quinlan was well aware of that, “I would like to, but Emmy, I want to ask you something,” he had wanted to ask this for some time, but it never seemed appropriate. He decided that there would never be a time for it, “When we kiss, do you think of me?” he still told himself that she was thinking of Bryan. Longing for what she had once had. Even without making love, they had been together for many years. Quinlan long realized that there were many types of human love, sexuality, and intimacy. No one relationship was like another.

“Of course I do. Who else would I be thinking about? Oh…” it seemed to hit her quickly, “Oh, god, Quinlan, I don’t mean to make you think I’m thinking about him. I’m so sorry if I had. I do miss him, very much, but that doesn’t mean I’m thinking about him when we’re kissing. I promise.”

“It’s alright. I wouldn’t have been upset if you had,” he wasn’t sure how he would feel, but he knew he felt good knowing that it wasn’t the case, “I just wanted to know for sure,” it wasn’t jealousy. Bryan and himself were extremely different people. Even if Emmy hadn’t wanted him specifically in the beginning, he was pleased to know that she did now. Iit had been a slow build and he found that he desired for it to continue growing, “I would like very much if we continued kissing. Let me know if I go too far,” she always did.

She nodded lightly as he leaned over her a bit, pressing their bodies together. He let one of his legs slide along the side of hers. She responded favorably by moaning softly into his mouth as he touched their lips together again. It was the closest they had ever been. Her arms tightened around his neck, pulling him against her more. He was tempted to slide his hand down her thigh and pull it up against his hip as he’d done before. He wanted to settled between her thighs and show her the method he had developed for love making. He couldn’t take her virginity in the proper sense, but he could still have her. 

Quinlan wouldn’t deny to himself that her virginity was enticing. He realized, when he really thought about it, that it was one of the few things that he could not see connection with to his wife. She had been a widow and a mother when he met her. She had been used by the men who had attacked his home. He didn’t love her any less for it and he didn’t care for Emmy anymore for it. He knew he thought of his wife far too often when he thought about Emmy. It felt good to have something to force himself to remember that they weren’t the same person.

His hand began to move, moving it’s way down her thigh and gripping a little tighter, but her’s went to his shoulders and pushed again. He didn’t stop right away. Something inside of him told him to keep going. That she wouldn’t be able to stop him from having what he wanted. He could have his way with her and drain her. He thought back to when he woke up, how he had pounced on her and forced her head to the side to get at her neck. He could hear her heart pounding. Her body was warm and that needy part of his body told him she wanted this. 

Once again, he managed to control himself. He bit back on the tip of his stinger, which had threatened to force itself free of his mouth. He relaxed his grip on her hip and slowly laid back on the bed, pulling her close in his arms as he rested his head back. 

Neither of them said anything. She just nuzzled into his chest and soon he felt her breathing even out and her heart calming down. Emmy was fast asleep in his arms.


	8. Chapter 8

He could feel her blood pulsing as his lips passed over her tender neck. She gasped softly as he opened his mouth and let his teeth graze the soft skin. He hadn’t meant to do it. It took a great deal of control to keep his mouth closed when they kissed and even more when he moved to her neck. The closer he got to her heart, the louder the sound of it beating seemed to be. He could swear with each pass of his lips, he could feel her veins bulging up. It was hard to help himself though, she was always seemed to respond well to it when he touched or kissed her neck.

Emmy moaned lowly as he slid a hand into her hair and gripped it gently, pulling it back to expose more of her neck. It was their first night together that she had removed any of her clothing and it was hard not to be excited when she pulled her sweater off and he got to see her in her undergarments. It felt like a new level of trust for her to allow him to touch and feel along her bare arms and neck. As tempted as he was to slide his hands along her soft, bare back and around her bare waist; Quinlan resisted.

“Ah...Quinlan…” she groaned as he grazed his teeth on the warm flesh and felt the skin break a bit. No blood came through, but he could smell it. His stinger reacted and he had to pull back quick and bite down on it till it retreated. 

When he regained his focus, he saw her leaned back from him, her hands wrapped around her neck and her eyes wide with fear, “Emmy, I’m so sorry.”

She had been sitting across his lap, while he leaned back against the wall behind the bed. Emmy seemed to prefer being on top, but he assumed that came from her time with Bryan. Even without sex, whenever they were intimate, he imagined it would be easier with her being in the top position or across his lap. He enjoyed the feel of her body pressed against his and he enjoyed being able to wrap his arms around her and hold her close when she fell asleep.

“I-it’s alright…” she said softly. It had been nearly a month of them sharing a bed, only spending a few nights apart, and while his stinger would rattle, this was the first time he actually felt close to really hurting her, “Do you...do you need to go feed?” he had been out once tonight already, but it was getting late in the year and the wildlife was getting more difficult to find. Quinlan feared that he was draining the area dry.

Whether he went to feed again or not, he knew that he had ruined what had been a good evening as he watched Emmy reach for her sweater. He couldn’t imagine when, or if, she would remove it again for him, “I should,” even without a light in the room, he could see the small cut he’d caused on her neck. It was thin and shallow, almost like a papercut. 

She leaned over to kiss his cheek softly before sliding from his lap and pulling her sweater on. He was angry with himself. As human as he wanted to feel, he failed at it. With Tasa, at least he had some semblance of humanity because he could go off and feed and feel satisfied when he came home. 

As they walked across the short bridge, he stopped and looked down at his feet for a moment before looking up to meet her confused gaze, “I really am sorry. It doesn’t hurt, does it?”

Emmy smiled softly and moved to wrap her arms around his neck, “No. It doesn’t. Less than a papercut.”

His hands settled on her waist and he held her close, “I...I want you to stay here on the bridge,” she usually came with him and waited at the tree that they liked to kiss under.

“Why?”

“Please, Emmy, I just need you to stay here on the bridge. Like you did the first night. If I can’t find something to feed on, I don’t want you coming to get me. Leave me out there. I’ll eventually find something and you can come back in the morning or tomorrow night. Don’t come get me unless you see my neck. Do you remember that?”

She nodded, seeming to understand the seriousness of the situation, “Make sure it’s flushed red.”

“Yes. Good,” he leaned down to kiss her softly, “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Emmy’s soft, cool hand touched his cheek and he leaned his head into it, “I know you don’t, Quinlan.”

Standing there for just a few more moments, holding her, he eventually slid his hands away from her waist and let her led him to the edge of the bridge. Once off it, he waited till she was halfway across it before starting for the trees. Quinlan remembered the day he left Tasa. It wasn’t supposed to end the way it had. He was supposed to come home to her waiting arms, as he always did when he had to leave. He knew he shouldn’t fear the same thing with Emmy. The Master and the Ancients were gone. They couldn’t hurt him or anyone else anymore. Yet there was an uneasy feeling in his chest. 

He decided it was just the hunger.

It wasn’t long in the trees that he realized he wasn’t alone. At first he thought Emmy had followed him, but it wasn’t her scent he caught. It was heavier and thicker. The sound of the heartbeat was different too. It wasn’t an animal. It was very calm and steady. The heartbeat of someone who knew how to kill something, if only just animals. He could smell metal too. Who ever it was, they came armed. Looking around, he realized they were a good distance from the bridge. Whoever this was, they had been waiting here for him.

“I can smell you,” he stated calmly. Quinlan never liked a hunt. He was a warrior and preferred to face those he was fighting, “There is no point in hiding.”

Quinlan remembered the man who climbed down from the tree. He was one of the men who had complained to Emmy about letting the kids go to lessons because he would be there. Jake, Jacob, Jason, or something like that. He hadn’t bothered to remember, “You sick freak. Can smell people like an animal. That’s what you are. An animal. A rabid one that needs to be put down. I just hope you haven’t infected Emmy.”

He saw no point in even attempting to explain to this man that he lacked the ability to infect. There was no reason for it. No matter what he said, this man wouldn’t care. Quinlan had met many like this. Ones that didn’t care for explanations. Ones that just wanted to take action and be done with it, “Feel about me however you want. It means nothing to me.”

“Of course it don’t. All you care about is ruining Emmy. You sick freak, can’t go fuck your own kind, so you’re going to fuck our women,” he wondered if this man knew that his kind were incapable of doing that. Again, he doubted it mattered and he saw no reason to explain it, “Bet it gets you off knowin’ your kind killed her fiance and you still got her into bed.”

“I would prefer if you didn’t talk about Emmy this way. She has nothing to do with this.”

He raised his gun up, the metal Quinlan had smelled, “You’re right. It doesn’t. It’s all you and what your kind did. Don’t worry, I’ll get rid of the body and everyone will just think you ran off. It’ll be easier for Emmy that way.”

“Fet won’t believe that,” Quinlan wasn’t a coward. If he was going to leave, he would be sure to let someone know of his departure. 

“Doesn’t matter. He doesn’t have to. No one does. In the end, even Fet and Emmy will be happy you’re gone. Thing will get back to normal. That girl won’t have to come out here with the likes of you at all hours, letting you put your filthy hands all over her. I’ve seen you two kissin’. It’s disgustin’. One of these days, you’re gonna snap and kill her. That’s why you’re out here now. I saw you two out here earlier, but you’re out here again. You did the same last night. You’re losin’ control. Like I said, a rabid animal. I ain’t gonna let Emmy pay for that. She ain’t the brightest at pickin’ men, not that you’re a man. First she hooked up with that cripple that couldn’t take care of her and now you.”

“I said to leave Emmy out of this.”

“Fuck you, Freak,” he snapped back.

It happened fast. It reminded him of meeting Goodweather for the first time. The doctor had raised a gun to him too. The only difference was that this man was expecting the fight and seemed to have more experience in this sort of thing than Goodweather had at the time. When Quinlan rushed him, he didn’t drop his gun. He braced himself and managed to hold his ground. It reminded him of the time he was a Gladiator and weapons were thrown aside for grappling. He was sure the only reason this human had managed to stay standing was the fact that he still wasn’t feeling like his old self.

The barrel of the gun was forced under his chin and the human tried to use it to push him back. Luckily, Quinlan didn’t have to breath and the attempt to crush his windpipe was fruitless. He growled lowly, his stinger rattling as he heard the other man’s heartbeat picking up. The man’s other hand swung up as he tried to go for a kidney hit. Once again, it was lucky that Quinlan lacked the need for such organs. This man had no clue how to fight his kind. He’d been lucky enough to live here, on the outskirts of everything. They likely only saw his kind occasionally in the woods across the rivers and took them out with guns from the edge of the water.

“You...sick...fuck…” he grunted as he tried to reach up to dig his thumb into one of Quinlan’s eyes.

Without thinking, rage getting the better of him once again in his life, he used all his strength to throw the man back. He went flying and slammed into a tree. His body hit the ground with a sickening ‘thunk’. Standing still for a moment, he realized the man wasn’t moving to get up. Even though he didn’t need to breath, he sucked in deep breaths and he realized he could no longer hear the rushing of the other man’s heart in his ears.

Slowly, he walked over and squatted near the body. He didn’t need to touch it to know the man was dead. The fact that the man was looking up at him with dead eyes, while lying on his stomach was enough to tell him that his life was over. 

His mind raced with all sorts of thoughts, but they settled on one.

Hunger.

His sting shot out at the bit of exposed, bruised neck that he could see.

Within seconds, he could feel new strength flowing through his body. It made him feel hotter than the animal blood did. It felt almost pleasurable. His stinger dug deep into the flesh and he lost himself in the feel of the blood flowing through the stinger and into his body. Nothing else mattered right now.

Quinlan drank deep and long till he could pull nothing else from the lifeless body. He savored every drop of it. As his mind started to come down from his ‘food high’, he could feel his body shaking. It had been some time since he had drank that much at once. It was a rush, to say the least.

His pale blue eyes turned to the corpse on the ground. The withered shell that it was now. Even though it still had it’s muscle mass, it looked empty. The skin sagged a little on the face and it looked colder than he did.

The thought hit him suddenly. What had he just done? 

All he could think about was his mother. How he used to discard of the bodies they fed from. It was so long ago, but it was the same situation. He had to hide what had been done. Quickly, he grabbed the body up, gun, and started moving deeper into the trees. Hide the body and come back later to dispose of it properly. 

With the amount he had drank, he knew he wouldn’t need to feed again for a week, possibly more. But he could continue to have Emmy bring him here so he could pretend to feed and get rid of his new shame.

Emmy.

Quinlan wondered how he was going to face her. He knew he couldn’t tell her what he’d done. She wouldn’t understand and he didn’t want her to. It wasn’t a weight he was going to make her hold. This was his cross to bare. His last one. Quinlan told himself he would not feed from a human again. Not like this, at least.

It took some time, but he found a good spot to dig up the dirt with his hands and bury the body in a shallow grave. Quinlan would come back tomorrow night to take better care of it. For now, this would do. He stamped the dirt down and replanted the bush he’d pulled up over it. The ground didn’t look perfectly as it had before, but it was well enough to make it till tomorrow evening.

Quietly, he made his way back towards the bridge. Emmy was standing where he’d instructed her to and he cleared his throat a little as he stood at the edge. She stood up from the railing and watched as he tilted his head back to expose his flushed neck. She smiled and walked over to hold her hand out to him. He slid his hand into hers and walked quietly with her back to the house. Quinlan felt strong again. He felt like himself again. It was more than that though. He felt better than himself. It had been so long since he drank that fully. 

He felt her hand try to slip away from his as they entered his small room, but Quinlan held on and she looked back at him curiously. In the soft light of the bedroom lamp, she would be able to see him covered in dirt now, “You’re filthy. What happened out there?” she didn’t say it in an upset tone. 

“I found a deer, but it struggled a bit more than they usually do…” he lied. Quinlan’s body felt _needy_ in a way that he knew could never truly be satisfied. But he was urged to try. He pulled Emmy close and she smiled a little before sliding her arms around his neck. Hunger satisfied for the first time in a long time, he felt his other urges taking over.

“Quinlan…” he didn’t let her finish her sentence. 

He pressed their lips together hard and despite her surprise, she didn’t pull away. Groaning lowly, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her flush up against him as he leaned down to kiss her more passionately. Her body felt cool against his feeding fever, but he could feel her heart racing as her chest pressed against his. Her scent changed a little too. He’d caught that scent before when they kissed like this. She was aroused. Every time before, he ignored the scent and simply stopped their session before it could push any further.

Quinlan didn’t stop this time though and she didn’t press at his shoulders the way she normally did when it went on too long.

Instead, he slowly started walking her back towards the bed. They both tumbled down onto it, with him on top for a change. Quinlan didn’t know, and didn’t care, what had changed. Why she was suddenly comfortable with this. Perhaps it wasn’t a sudden change. Maybe the fact that his stinger wasn’t rattling and he seemed more ‘confident’ from his satisfying meal. He knew Tasa always seemed more eager when he seemed to put off a more aggressive tone. Maybe it was the fact that deep down they were all animals. Perhaps if he had not cut her neck earlier, she would have allowed this tonight anyway.

It didn’t matter.

What mattered was the way her body felt under his.

She arched up against him as their lips moved together and he slid his hand down her side. If he forgot himself and did this before, she would stop the session. Instead, this time, his hand reached her hip and rather than gripping her thigh and pulling it against his hip, he ran his fingertips over the button and zipper of her jeans.

Emmy responded favorably. Her hips lowered to create enough space between them for him to work open the clasps. She was breathing heavy and hard. Quinlan had wondered what sort of intimacy she had shared with her fiance. Obviously, there had been no intercourse. But even he was aware that there were other ways to get similar pleasure. Had Bryan ever pleasured his would be wife outside of kissing? Quinlan wasn’t sure which option he liked better. Her being familiar with ‘manual’ stimulation or her having never experienced that before either.

Once again, he realized that didn’t matter.

Tasa, and the few other women he had fallen in with over his many years, had taught him well enough how to please a woman. He wanted to do that for Emmy now.

Not wanting to part their bodies anymore than needed, Quinlan didn’t even bother to try to get her pants off. The two of them just pushed at the jeans till they were down enough for his hand to slip down the front of her underwear. She moaned loudly against his mouth as his hot fingers sank between her thighs. 

It was hot and damp between her legs. He could feel how slick she was without even having to push his fingers into the slit. Moaning against her lips, he cupped his fingers around her damp mound and rubbed along her wet slit. One of his fingers dipped into the warm fold of her womanhood. While his touch was gentle, his fingers bore the small cuts and scars of someone who had done much manual labor in their life. The rough fingertip dragged its way up her slit, only stopping once it reached her clit. It was swelled and he could swear he felt it throb with need as he pressed against it, his finger moving in a slow circle against it

The way her breathing hitched and her body twitched under his let him know that he was doing well. Her lips fell away from his as he toyed with the sensitive ball of nerves. He sat up enough to watch as her face contorted in pleasure. Her cheeks were red and there was sweat on her brow. Her eyes were barely open, but he could see the glassy lust hazed over them as he slid a finger down to her entrance, “Emmy, do you want me?” he learned long ago to treat his hand, in these situations, as the body parts he lacked. 

“Yes. Yes, Quinlan, yes,” she moaned loudly.

The tone of her voice was beautiful. It excited him greatly and he plunged his finger deep into her, moaning lowly as he felt how tight she was. She arched her back and bit her lower lip hard as he slowly began working the digit inside of her. Hot, wet, and tight. His own hips twitched a little. As if his human side knew what he should be doing. It was an awkward position, but he had managed it before. He pressed his hips against the back of his hand and thrust his hips forward. It was as close to making love to a woman as he could get and he enjoyed it well enough. Tasa had been patient with him as they had learned ways of doing this that pleased them both.

Though he was wishing now that they had thought to remove her pants completely. He wanted to fit in the cradle of her thighs. But he didn’t want to stop. That could wait till another time.

Instead, the half-human pressed his hips against her and ground against her gently. She cried out as his thumb found its way back to her clit and his finger thrust in the same rhythm as his hips.

“Quinlan!” she cried loudly. He had no doubts Fet could hear them, but he didn’t care about that.

“You feel wonderful, Emmy,” he said softly as he managed to work a second finger into her.

“Oh, Quinlan, don’t stop! Please don’t stop!”

He had no intentions of stopping till he was sure she was satisfied.


	9. Chapter 9

They laid on their sides, facing each other, their foreheads touching and his fingers wrapped around her waist as her’s stroked down his cheek. Emmy was still dressed in her sweater, but her pants and underwear had be discarded. Toss halfway across the room at some point during the night. It had been a long time since he had smiled as much as he currently was, but it felt good to do it. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t proud of how many times he had brought her to climax that night. 

After her last, she had laid limp on the bed under him. Shivering and hips twitching as the last waves of pleasure washed over her. Her eyes could barely stay open and she was breathing hard and ragged. He had thrust his fingers into her soaking body a few more times, but he realized she wasn’t responding the same anymore. She’d had enough. By the time he had removed himself from her body and was laying down beside her, she was fast asleep already. Knowing that he had pleasured her into utter exhaustion was a rather nice feeling. Having feed so fully, Quinlan found sleep easily as well.

By the time he woke, he could tell it was several hours into the afternoon. He had no doubts that Fet was well aware of what they had been up to. Emmy wasn’t exactly shy or quiet in her pleasure. The man had allowed them to sleep undisturbed well into the day. Even now, Emmy was still dozing softly in the bed next to him. He slid his arms around her waist and pulled her close, allowing her to continue sleeping as long as she needed.

When she finally did wake, she turned against him and leaned her forehead against his, touching his cheek softly, “Hello,” she said sweetly with a smile.

“Hello,” he smiled back as he held her close.

They were both quiet for a moment, but she spoke first, “That was nice last night.”

“I’m sorry if I pushed you too much.”

“No. Not too much at all. It felt good. I...I’ve been wanting it for some time. I was just...nervous,” it made him feel better to know he hadn’t been too aggressive, “I really enjoyed it.”

“I did too,” he tilted his head a bit to kiss her softly, “But, if you wanted, you can still consider yourself a virgin. You are still one,” he wanted her to feel free to move on with another man and be intimate the way a man and woman were supposed to. Quinlan knew that one day she would want to be with a human man and he wouldn’t stand in the way of it.

“Quinlan, if it’s all the same to you, I don’t want to think of myself as a virgin. I gave that to you last night. I’ve never let anyone touch me like that before,” which confirmed his thoughts that physical intimacy of any kind between herself and her fiance had been limited in almost all aspects. 

“Emmy…”

She quieted him by kissing his lips softly, “Have I ever told you why Bryan and I never had sex?”

It wasn’t the discussion he wanted to be having, but it seemed important to her, “No.”

“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to. I did. So did Bryan. But it always made him so upset that his body didn’t respond the way he wanted it to. We could have, but it would have taken work and time. Time he didn’t want to take. We, eventually, simply gave up trying. It didn’t bother me. I was happy to just be with him. I didn’t need sex. We still fought about it though,” she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned back. Quinlan adjusted himself to hover over her, pressing himself against her lightly, “What you did for me last night, what I wish I could do for you in return, I tried to show Bryan that we could still be intimate in ways like that. He didn’t want that though. In the end, even though we loved each other, we were no better than roommates. Just sharing a living space.”

Quinlan felt unsure of what to say for a moment, “That sounds difficult.”

“It was. Some days more than others. When you kissed me last night, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to go further. Then we fell on the bed and you started touching me...I didn’t want it to stop. I’m more than happy to consider what we did my _first time_.”

“You don’t mind that I couldn’t…”

Emmy shook her head slightly, “Not at all. I just wish there was something I could do for you, but all of those things involve something you don’t have.”

“Yes…” he knew what sorts of things she was referencing, “I would enjoy feeling your hands on my body though. My throat is particularly sensitive.”

“Really?” she smiled and he felt her drag her fingers along his shoulder before letting them slip across folded indentions on his throat. His lips parted and he took a deep breath as she traced the lines with the tip of her fingernail, “I’ll make sure to remember that,” at which point she slid her arm back around his shoulders.

“I would enjoy it if you did.”

Emmy laughed softly, “I will...Is there anything else I should keep in mind?”

“There is, but I’m not sure we should move that far just yet.”

“You know, when you say it that way, it just makes me curious to know.”

Quinlan was hesitant. He was worried if he said anything more, she would reject him, “It’s not important.”

Her lips sank into a frown and she laid her head back against the pillow as she forced him to look her in the eyes, “It is important. Quinlan, I let you do things to me last night that I’ve never even done to myself. I want to be able to please you.”

“Very well, but please don’t panic,” he leaned his head down and rested it against her shoulder for a moment. He could hear her heart, but it didn’t make his stinger rattle as it had before. He was still well fed from the night before. Slowly, he sat back up and pressed against her lightly, “I want to feed from your femoral artery. Right here, in particular,” he slid his hand down between them, sliding across her bare hips and down into the curve of her groin. He didn’t stop till his hand was about two inches away from her mound and against her thigh.

“You...you want...want to feed from me?” he could hear the distress in her voice and feel her body tense.

“It really isn’t as bad as it sounds. My wife, we used on occasion, do that. It was a way for us to be close with each other,” he had done it with other women, but he preferred to only mention Tasa. She had been the only one important before now, “The blood there is warmer and...sweeter…” it was the best way he could describe it, “I can taste your arousal there,” at least that’s what it felt like, “I’ve been told that it can be pleasurable to be fed from there,” he wouldn’t do it if he didn’t think she would enjoy it as well, “I can please you while I’m down there as well. I think you would enjoy it.”

Emmy was quiet, which he expected. It was a lot to process. Her eyes flicked off to the side, avoiding his gaze, “I...that’s uh…”

“Emmy, I don’t expect you to allow me to do that. I won’t make you. I’ll never do anything you don’t want me to and I don’t want to do anything that you’re hesitant about. I feel pleasure enough just from touching you. I would enjoy if we could lie together bare. Just sleep that way.”

She was quiet again. Quinlan wished he had pushed harder to avoid bringing up feeding from her. When she did finally speak, he was relieved, “I would like to sleep together like that too,” she smiled softly and he couldn’t help but smile back as he leaned into kiss her again.

They kissed, passionately, for several minutes and he felt her hips buck up against his lightly, “Wrap your legs around me.”

“What?” she asked curiously.

“Just put them around my waist. I promise, it will feel good,” he hadn’t intended on them going at it again so soon, but it felt like it would be a shame to pass up the chance.

Slowly, he felt her legs sliding around his hips and she clenched them tight around his body, “Like this?”

“Yes. Perfect. Now, if you don’t like this, I’ll stop. I do hope you like it though,” he smiled as he sat up a little and slid his fingers along her hips before gripping them lightly. He pulled her up against his waist and thrust his hips forward a bit. The seam of his jeans pressed against her slit and she whimpered, “Just rock your hips against mine.”

Emmy nodded and bit her lower lip as she twitched her hips against the front of his jeans. He pulled her hips tighter against his, allowing her to fully ‘hump’ against him, “Oh, Quinlan…” she panted softly. Her hands reached up to grip the edge of the mattress above her head as he helped her to move her hips.

The feel of the inside of the jeans rubbing against his pelvic area was nice. There was friction and the thought of her enjoyment helped give him some form of satisfaction, “Emmy…”

“Quinlan, more,” she said almost breathlessly as her eyes slid shut and she groaned in pleasure.

He was happy to provide for her. He leaned over and braced himself with one hand on the mattress as he ground their bodies together more tightly. The whimpers and cries of pleasure from her throat was all he needed to hear.

It didn’t take long for him to smell her arousal strengthening. Her legs tensed around his hips harder and she arched her back before crying out, “Quinlan!” Emmy’s body went limp under his and she panted loudly, tiny whimpers of pleasure escaping her mouth as she shivered with the tremors of her orgasm.

Quinlan eased her legs from around his waist and reached up to stroke her cheek softly, “I take it you enjoyed that,” he wasn’t prone to teasing often, but it felt good.

“I did. Best way to wake up I can think of,” she shivered again before reaching up and tracing her fingertip along the lines of his neck, “I’d like to do something for you…”

The thought, and whatever she had planned, went unfinished. There was a loud knock on the bedroom door and she jumped a little. Quinlan was a little upset that he hadn’t noticed someone coming up to the door. He’d let his guard down in his efforts at pleasuring Emmy. He couldn’t let that become a habit. Luckily, the scent he got and the sound of the heartbeat was familiar. It was Fet.

He sat up slowly and Emmy grabbed up the blanket to cover her naked lower half as the door opened, “Hey, sorry to break you two love birds up,” Emmy blushed at the comment, “But we got a situation outside,” Fet didn’t come in, just spoke through the crack he made in the door. Likely because he didn’t want to risk what he might see. He could only imagine what Fet must have thought they were doing all night.

“We’ll be out in a minute, Fet!” she shouted and the door closed.

“I can’t say I’m not disappointed,” he admitted as she started to climb off the bed and go for her pants.

“I am too,” she smiled over her shoulder as she hiked the jeans up and fastened them, “Wow, I’m filthy…So are you,”

“He looked at his shirt and then around the bedding. She was right. It was covered in dirt. Not just dirt though, at least for the bed, the sheet had clear wet stains. Quinlan knew what it was, but he didn’t want to embarrass her by admitting she had been that wet that she soaked down the bedding. It wasn’t just the bed though. His shirt had dirt rubbed into it. He felt a little bad as he realized now that he had touched her so intimately with such filthy hands. He was no stranger to such things, but he knew humans these days tended to be ‘cleaner’.

Emmy wasn’t in much better condition. Her hair was a tangled mess. He’d dug his fingers into it and gripped it several times. Her tossing her head back and forth and squirming against the pillow didn’t help. While the dark color of her shirt didn’t show any dirt, he had seen his dirty finger prints on her thighs before she pulled the jeans up.

He moved over to her and smoothed her wavy hair out a bit, “Emmy, what we did last night, it meant a great deal to me.”

“It did to me too, Quinlan,” she smiled and draped her arms over his shoulders, standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.

“What we talked about, the thing I could take pleasure in...it never has to happen. I promise,” he could make due without that level of affection and intimacy.

“Let’s not worry about that right now. Let’s just go see what’s going on.”

“I was hoping we could stay in here all day, but I suppose I can wait for whatever it was you had in mind before…”

“Guess you’ll have to,” she teased before slipping away from him.

Quinlan couldn’t help the small smile on his lips before he followed after her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a three chapter update for now, but they do all add up to nearly 8000 words. Things are getting crazy for Q and Emmy. Thank you all for reading.

What they walked out to was not what Quinlan had been expecting, though it was not an entirely unfamiliar sight. Though the last time he saw a mob like this, they had torches. These ones had guns. All of the village people were standing around, getting louder and louder as Fet tried to talk them down.

“That thing killed Jason!” Jason. So that had been the man’s name. Had they found the body already?

“Hey, Quinlan wouldn’t do that,” he cringed inwardly as Fet defended him. 

“He said he was going out last night to take care of that thing,” someone shouted.

“That don’t mean nothin’ and you know it,” Fet continued to defend him, “Has anyone bothered to look for him? Or you all just assumin’ that he must be dead? Cause it don’t sound like to me that anyone has proof of anythin’.”

Emmy stood next to him as they left the house. He had forgotten his sunglasses and winced as the sun hit his face. Out of habit, he pulled free of her soft grip and stood in the shadow of the doorway as she went to stand with Fet, “What’s going on?”

“Look at you, Emmy!” he saw the woman with Emmy’s eyes. It was her mother, “You’ve been holed up with that thing and he’s infected you!”

“What? Mom, that’s insane and you know it,” she shook her head, “It’s just dirt,” in the sun, he could see the muddy streaks from his fingers on her face and shirt. She reached up and wiped some of it off her cheek.

“Jason went out last night to take care of that freak and he didn’t come home!” someone shouted from somewhere in the crowd.

“And we all know that Jason is so clear headed about everything. Like Fet asked, has anyone bothered to look for Jason?” she was stern and he knew that voice. She was trying to put them in their place and calm them down the way she did her students. Sadly, that did not always work with adults the way it did with children, “He was probably drunk, slipped, and broke his ankle or something and he’s just laying out there waiting for someone to find him.”

As much as it bothered him for Fet to defend him, it was painful to listen to Emmy do it. She truly believed he wasn’t capable of killing someone. It wasn’t as if she didn’t know his history, some of it, but she seemed to think he was incapable of it now. Likely the idea that he had seen so much of it in his life, that he couldn’t stomach it himself. Sadly, that was not the case. He hadn’t even attempted to restrain Jason. Just went on the defense and then drained him.

“We want that thing out of here!” it was obvious that they were using one of their own missing as an excuse. One way or the other, this would have happened eventually. They were untrusting of him and he didn’t blame them. Even if they had been wrong about his involvement in Jason missing, he didn’t blame them. It was a fact he had accepted a long time ago. He didn’t belong among humans.

“You all are being hysterical. If you all would just give him a chance…” she shook her head a little, “He’s strong, he can help around here in ways no one else can. He can help with hunting for food and he has more experience in seeing nations have to rebuild themselves than anyone else here. He can help us.”

Quinlan couldn’t let this go on anymore. As much as it made his skin sting and his eyes burn, he stepped out of the doorway and walked over to her. Several of the people took steps back and a few raising their weapons. He touched Emmy’s arm lightly and she turned to look at him, “I’ll leave. I didn’t come here voluntarily, but I will leave if that is what is needed. I had no intentions of causing distress here and if my leaving will correct that, I will go.”

“Quinlan, no…” she started.

Fet spoke up again, “There’s no reason for that, Q.”

“Yes. Yes there is. I don’t belong here,” where he would go, he wasn’t sure. Quinlan was sure there were plenty of abandoned towns and houses. He was no stranger to being a squatter. It wasn’t his preferred method of living, but it was something he could do with ease, “I’ll leave at nightfall,” he could grab Jason’s body on the way out and dispose of it more properly. It wasn’t that he was worried about the other people finding it, but he wanted to hide his shame from Emmy and Fet. They were the only people he cared about right now.

“Quinlan, you’re not leaving…” Emmy started.

“Like hell he isn’t! We should cut his fucking head off!”

“He’s one of them!”

“They killed my brother and you want to play house with that thing!”

“The hell is wrong with you, Emmy!”

“You’re smarter than this! That thing infected you!”

He shook his head, “It’s fine. I’ll go. I’ll go now, if that is preferred,” anything to spare Emmy more of this. It wasn’t right for her to be seen as the one in the wrong here. So long as no one followed him, he could still get the body.

Emmy turned against him a bit and wrapped her fingers around his hand, “If Quinlan goes, I’m going too.”

“If Quinlan and Emmy go, I’m goin’ too,” Fet spoke up again.

While the village people liked having Fet around, most people did after all, but he wasn’t one of them. Not really. He was an outsider and expendable. But they wouldn’t let Emmy go easily, “Emmy, you can’t!” her mother shouted before rushing closer. The woman stopped and hesitated a moment due to how close to Quinland she was, but she tried to reached out to grab her daughter’s arm and Emmy pressed closer to him, “That thing did something to you!”

“He hasn’t done anything to me, Mom. I’m the same as I’ve always been. If Quinlan is leaving, so am I.”

While her seemingly loyalty to him struck a chord deep inside of him that he hadn’t felt in a very long time, Quinlan knew he couldn’t let her do this, “Emmy, you can’t…”

His mouth closed tight as she turned her head fast and narrowed her eyes at him, “Like hell I can’t. I’m not going to stay here with these people. Knowing how they think about you. How could I?” her face softened a little. He knew he could say that she had to stay for the children, but he wondered how many would actually allow her near their children after this. Even if she stayed, she would be considered tainted. They would always look at her and wonder if he had infected her.

“If they go, I go and I’m takin’ my truck with,” Fet added in.

“Fet, we’re counting on that truck!” someone shouted.

“Too bad. I found it, I dragged it here,” which Quinlan imagined wasn’t an easy task with the river and the bridge, “And I’m the one workin’ on it most of the time. My truck goes with me.”

It was too much for him to ask of them. Quinlan couldn’t let either of them do this, “Stop it. Both of you. No one is coming with me. I’ll leave at nightfall,” a little harsher than he meant to, Quinlan yanked his hand free of hers and started back into the house, “I hope you find your missing person,” not that they would. He’d ensure of that.

As he walked back in, he heard Emmy shouting, “See what you people did! You’re all ignorant! You act like you’re so much better than him, but at least he tried to get along! You just acted like he was the monster under the bed!” it made him feel good to hear her saying such things, but he couldn’t keep putting her through this. Eventually, people would get over her relationship with him and go back to treating her like normal. It would take time, but they would, “Quinlan!”

He could hear her following after him now and he shut himself in the small room, locking the door behind himself. Walking over to the bed, he laid out on it as he heard the door handle jiggle, “Quinlan? Quinlan, please open the door,” she said softly. But he didn’t move. The bed smelled like her. Like her arousal. It wasn’t just the bed though. His clothes and hands smelled of her too, “I’m not leaving, Quinlan and you’re not leaving without me. Open the door so we can talk. Please, Quinlan…” she sounded sad.

He wouldn’t move. He couldn’t. She would go away eventually. She would get on with her life. When Fet came to take him across the river, he would make sure the man understood that he was to stay here too. Emmy may have thought these people ignorant, but they weren’t wrong. Nothing good would come of him staying too long. They could never rebuild as a community with him around. Once other towns heard that he was here, they would either refuses to help them or they would come for him in a larger group. Worse was that the longer he stayed, the more attached Emmy would become. People outside this town might now be so willing to go easy on her. They wouldn’t have the history with her that made them hesitant.

“Quinlan! I’ll get Fet to take the door off the hinges. Please just let me in,” Fet wouldn’t do it. The large man reminded him of a Sun Hunter he was once close to. They had fought side by side for quite some time. Fet would understand, without needing to be told, why he was doing this. It was one thing to threaten to leave in front of the others, but in the end, Fet and Emmy had to stay. He had released his Sun Hunter friend after being infected. Now it was time to release Fet, but at least this time his friend would get to live.

He heard her weight settle against the door and listened as she slid down to the floor. This was not how he imagined the day after their love making to be, but it seemed fitting. After all, when had anything gone the way he had expected? Even dying had been a false hope. Why he had thought that this would be any different from the rest of his life, he wasn’t sure. For just a moment. One tiny moment since the death of Tasa...he had let his guard down and let someone in again. It had been a mistake.

Quinlan wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but he eventually heard Emmy move from the door and leave. Fet never tried to take the door down and he heard the crowd of people outside the house disperse. While they wanted him dead, they mostly just wanted him gone. They hadn’t truly believed he killed Jason, it was just an excuse. He was sure they went searching for the body, but he was sure it was hidden well enough. He’d dig it up and take it far away.

It was hard to tell how long he laid there, but at some point he realized he’d been staring at the ceiling without a thought in his mind and the sun had long since set. He climbed to his feet and looked around. This room had been his for several months, but it still looked barely lived in. Quinlan was used to sparse conditions. It was how he preferred it. Other than some extra clothing Fet had rounded up for him, he had nothing. Even his sword was gone. Likely destroyed in the blast. All he grabbed on his way to the door was his sunglasses. He could gather things as he traveled.

Other than on himself, he couldn’t smell Emmy. She hadn’t come back. But Fet was there. The tall human was waiting near the front door and perked up as he came by, “Not takin’ nothin’ with ya?”

“I don’t need anything,” he said solemnly.

“Gotcha,” he nodded, “You know, you don’t gotta do this.”

“You know I do. It’s for the best.”

The other man nodded again and pushed off the wall, “Let’s get you over the river and through the woods. Promise not to eat grandmother,” Fet smirked, but he just stared at the man for a moment, “Oh come on, you don’t even get that one?” he chuckled softly, “I’m gonna miss ya, Born-O.”

“...” it was hard for him to say these things, “...You’ve been a good friend.”

“Damn, Q, I didn’t think you had it in ya to give out a compliment like that. Thought you only did that once every few centuries and I got it twice,” he smiled and shook his head before clapping the half-breed over the shoulders, “Let’s go. Try not to be a stranger though.”

Quinlan wouldn’t promise that. Everyone’s life would be better once he was gone. 

They walked in silence. There really wasn’t anything to say between them. Most of their ‘friendship’ had been in silence and there was no reason to end that now. Though as they got closer to the bridge, Fet decided to speak up again, “I got the truck across the bridge,” which was surprising to hear given the fact that he hadn’t heard it. Maybe Fet had pushed it. He imagined that the idea of Quinlan actually leaving would get the other towns people to help him get it moving, “It’s got a full tank of gas. Should take ya a good distance. No more munchers around, but people still get desperate, so watch out for road traps. People would be willing to risk a fight to get a truck and some gas.”

“You don’t have to give me the truck, Fet…”

“I know, but you need it more than I do right now. I’ll find another. I always do,” he smiled as they reached the bridge, “Threw a couple’a blankets and stuff in the back. Know you don’t care ‘bout that stuff, but you never know when you’ll need it.”

Quinlan nodded as he set his hand on Fet’s shoulder and they started across the bridge. It was a quiet walk again, but just as they reached the end, Fet pulled back quick and shoved at the back of his shoulder. He stumbled just for a second over the last step off the bridge and quickly turned to see his human friend already walking back across the bridge. Part of him, a small part, was little upset at the cold send off. He’d thought they had been through enough together to deserve a little better than that, “Sorry, Q, but it was her idea. You shoulda opened the bedroom door.”

Brow furrowing, he looked around and didn’t see anyone. All there was, was the truck. He smelled Emmy, but that was just his clothing. Or at least he thought so till he realized it was a cleaner scent. It wasn’t her arousal. It was just her. His eyes focused back on the truck and he realized there was someone sitting in the passenger seat. He saw the bedding of the truck held more than just blankets. There was a large sack tied down as well.

Slowly, he walked over to the driver side and looked inside. Emmy was sitting there, looking straight ahead, and not looking too happy, “Emmy, you shouldn’t…”

“Shut up,” she said it rather sternly. It wasn’t often he listened to someone who took a ‘tone’ with him, but his mouth snapped shut, “Did you really think I would just roll over and let you leave without talking to me?” she didn’t turn to look at him. She just stared forward into the darkness of the trees as she spoke, “Get in.”

“I don’t have to do this. I didn’t want the truck, Emmy. I don’t need it,” he could just walk off. If she tried to follow, he could run. Having a _talk_ wasn’t a requirement.

“Are you that much of a coward that you can’t handle talking to some human woman?” he cringed a little. He had long got over words like that being able to hurt him, but Emmy’s words made his confidence deflate, “Get in.”

Quinlan stood for a moment. He debated walking away. She wouldn’t follow, he could tell that. It was the option he should have taken. 

Instead, he sighed and pulled open the door to climb inside.


	11. Chapter 11

They sat quietly in the truck for a good bit of time. Quinlan thought to speak a few times, but nothing seemed appropriate. He would have liked to have left right away and get as far away as possible by sunrise. Instead, they were both sitting there in silence, taking the occasional, awkward glance at each other. He got the feeling she had a lot to say, but none of it was coming out.

Though when it finally did, he wished it hadn’t, “Did you kill Jason?” rather than answering, he sat silently, his back straightening a little, “Oh god…” she reached up to cover her mouth a little with her fingertips, “Quinlan, Quinlan, please...please tell me it was self defense.”

Could what he did really be considered self defense? The majority of humans didn’t stand a chance when it came to a fight with him. It wasn’t as if he went into the fight with the intention of killing the man, “He raised a gun to me. I didn’t mean for it to end the way it did. It was accidental in the end,” not that it really mattered. He had lost control and used too much force. He hadn’t been thinking.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god…” she hunched over and pressed her hands to her face. He felt ashamed of himself for the first time in a long time, “...we went to school together...he...he...he wasn’t a bad guy…”

“I’m not going to apologize, Emmy. He raised a gun to me. His heartbeat was steady. He would have pulled the trigger. I haven’t been at my full strength since I woke up here, I don’t think I would have been able to dodge the bullet. I didn’t defend myself with the intent to kill. He spoke badly of you and Bryan. I...I used too much force. I am sorry it ended the way, but I won’t be sorry for defending myself.”

Emmy didn’t cry or sob. She just sat quietly with her hands over her face. He could hear her heart racing and she was breathing heavy. He let her try to calm herself and it seemed to work as she tried to speak again, “...did you feed on him?” but as soon as she said it, she shook her head quick, “I don’t want to know. Don’t tell me,” but he was sure she knew the truth. Emmy was a smart woman. She would put together the fact that the reason he had been covered in dirt and mud was not because he had a rowdy deer to contend with.

“I didn’t lie to you,” only because she hadn’t asked him earlier if the claims by the town people were true or not. She simply assumed they weren’t. He wondered what had lead her to doubt that through the day. Perhaps Fet had been right. He should have opened the bedroom door and talked to her. Quinlan wanted to believe that he didn’t want to keep secrets from her, but he had wanted to keep this from her.

“Yes you did!” she suddenly snapped, looking up at him with anger in eyes, “You told me it was a deer.”

She had caught him in a lie and he hadn’t realized it till now, “...I...Emmy…”

What surprised him more was her throwing her fist out and punching his arm. It didn’t hurt, but it was the action itself that took him by surprise, “Don’t you ever lie to me again. Not about anything. I don’t care what it is, Quinlan...Jason wasn’t a bad guy, but he wasn’t a good guy either. Always drunk. Always doing something stupid and reckless. I always told him it was going to get him hurt one day,” her voice was a little shaky as she tried to hold back tears, “He broke his leg climbing the stupid roof when we were ten and he cracked his skull on the concrete trying to impress Monica when we were fifteen and he shot himself in the foot because he was drunk when we were twenty...Oh god…”

While the punch had been surprising, Quinlan found himself in shock as she scooted across the truck seat and leaned herself against him. Slowly, he reached up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as she buried her face into his chest. He had been sure that she would never want to touch him again. Humans were strange creatures. It was hard to tell what would set one off and what wouldn’t for another. 

“Emmy, you believe that I didn’t intend to hurt him?” he had to know that she believed that.

He felt her head move a little, “I do,” she pushed up a little to look him in the eyes, “Promise you won’t lie to me again. Swear it.”

Quinlan nodded, “I promise,” though he realized it was an empty promise, “You should get back. I need to be gone before sunrise,” even with his glasses, driving during the day would be difficult. While he could cover a good bit of distance on foot, he was thankful for the truck. Once the gas ran out, he would be much further away than if he didn’t have the truck at all. At that point, he could go by foot. It would be a good head start, not that he knew where he was going yet.

“I’m not going back, Quinlan. I wasn’t just throwing around words when I said if you left, then I would leave too.”

Hands sliding down to her hips, he pushed her away lightly, “You can’t do that, Emmy.”

“Like hell I can’t.”

He shook his head, “It would be a mistake for you to come with. I’m not even sure where I’m going.”

“And better for you to have someone with you than to go alone. I’ve always wanted to travel more.”

“Emmy, why are you doing this?”

She smiled softly and leaned in to kiss his cheek, “I care about you, Quinlan. I haven’t cared about someone in a long time. I know what you did to Jason, but I believe you when you say it was self defence. I know you’re not completely human, I know you have to drink human blood sometimes...I might not understand it completely, but I want to. I’ve never met anyone like you before,” which was easy to believe, “And not just because of what you are. You don’t talk to me like other people do. Even Bryan wasn’t like you and I loved him,” she didn’t admit to loving him, which he didn’t expect her to. They were still new to each other.

“This would be a mistake for you…”

“Then it’s my mistake to make, Quinlan.”

While he wanted to continue to convince her to stay, but he realized it was useless. Much like Tasa, when Emmy seemed to make up her mind, it wasn’t anyone else's choice anymore. For one irrational moment, he feared for Emmy. Those that got close to him ended up dead. It was a miracle that Fet had survived. But then he remembered...the Master was gone. All of his kind were gone. Other than humans, there was no one to hurt Emmy. Humans, he could handle. He did fear himself hurting her, but so long as he fed regularly on animals and an occasional human, he could control that.

Reaching up, he touched her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. He hadn’t been sure she would let him, but she did. Their lips connected for a brief moment before she pulled away and settled onto the seat next to him. Quinlan could tell things had changed between them. It was going to take time for her to be comfortable being affectionate with him again. He wasn’t upset about it. He had killed someone she considered a friend. No matter the reason for the accidental death, it was still something she would have to deal with. The fact that she understood and even still wanted to be with him was what was important.

“Where should we go?” he had traveled the world, but America had not been a favorite of the countries. It was still a young civilization and he felt the Master had chose it for a reason. He had only been in America once or twice before and only for brief periods of time before now. 

“...South and west. It’s going to be winter soon and I think it will be easier to manage there,” she wasn’t entirely wrong. Anywhere would be difficult for him. Especially if they ran into other people, “I’ve never been across the Mississippi River.”

Quinlan smiled a little, “I would need you to get across it. How do you feel about Louisiana?”

Emmy reached across the seat and set her hand on his leg a bit, “I think I would like that,” it made him feel good. She was still willing to touch him, that much was obvious. It was just going to take some rebuilding to get to the point of intimacy they had shared the night before. What was several months of that compared to the years he had lived? It wasn’t something he was upset to work for again.

“You should get some sleep. I’ll drive tonight and you can drive in the morning,” once they ran out of gas, if they couldn’t find more, it would be down to hiking the rest of the way. From previous travels with humans, he knew that it would be much quicker on his own, but he found himself less bothered by having to spend extended nights and days camping with Emmy. 

As she settled herself against the door and seemed to relax, Quinlan started the truck up. It sputtered a bit and he wondered if it would even make it till the gas ran out. It would take them far enough, he supposed. They started driving down the dirt road, but he stopped suddenly, “I have to get something…wait here.”

Emmy looked concerned, “What is it?”

He hesitated a little as he hung halfway out the door. Quinlan’s first instinct was to lie. To say that he had dropped something the night before in his struggle with Jason, but he knew she wouldn’t believe it. Emmy knew how little he had in the way of possessions. What would he have dropped? They had been kissing and touching before they went out there. Emmy was an intelligent woman, she knew he hadn’t had anything on him when they went out that night for his feeding, “I...I need to clean up the mess I’ve made,” it seemed a simple way of stating he had to move the body without admitting to it.

Emmy seemed to understand and she hugged herself a bit before nodding and looking away from him. It pained him that he had hurt her in such a way. Broke the trust that she had in him, “...okay…” she said numbly. 

Quietly, he closed the door and started into the trees. He stopped suddenly and went ridged. Something didn’t feel right. His head craned to see the truck not far away still on the road. He could see Emmy shifting around in her seat to get comfortable. There wasn’t anything that sounded or smelled out of the ordinary, but something felt...off.

Guard on high, he moved through the trees till he reached the bushy area he had buried the body. He knew for sure something was wrong. He had left it the way he found it. Clean and dirt stamped down. But now, now the bushes were moved and the dirt hole had been dug up. It could have been an animal. He hadn’t buried it very deep. But Jason wasn’t a small man. There wasn’t an animal in this area that was large enough to haul off a carcass that size. It was possible that someone in the town had found him and dug him up. 

Quinlan dismissed that possibility. The only reason he hadn’t been run out of the town with guns firing around him was because they didn’t know where Jason was. If they had his body, nothing Fet or Emmy would have said would have mattered. They would have kicked the doors down or set the building on fire. 

He squatted down near the hole and scooped up a handful of the freshly moved dirt. Sniffing it, he hoped to catch the scent of whatever had dug the body up. But there was nothing. Just his own scent, Jason’s, and dirt. Even his kind had a scent to them. He didn’t smell ammonia. Quinlan knew it was impossible for any of his kind to still be alive. The Master was gone and so were the Ancients. So all of their spawns were gone too; him being the only exception. Still, some part of his brain told him to be careful, that they could be anywhere. Same as he had programmed himself most of his life.

But the scent wasn’t there. 

There was no scent, which was almost as unnerving as if he had got a whiff of his own.

As he stood, he realized that it wasn’t just the lack of a scent. There was no sound either. All he could hear was the faint throbbing of Emmy’s heart. The silence was so loud, that it managed to travel all the way here from the road. He couldn’t hear the sounds of various critters or insects. 

“Quinlan?!” her voice cut through his thoughts and he realized he must have been standing out here for some time.

Quietly, he made his way back to the truck, “Sorry.”

“Is...is everything alright?” she asked softly.

“Yes,” it wasn’t a lie. He had no reason to upset her about this. There was no scent, so there was nothing wrong. He knew Jason was dead. He’d ensured it when he drained the body. While unnerving, the lack of a scent was not something to upset her about.

“You...you...uh...you buried him?”

Quinlan started driving again and nodded, “Yes,” again, not a complete lie. He had buried Jason the night before, “Please get some sleep, Emmy. You need to rest.”

He could feel her eyes on him for several minutes, but eventually she curled up on the seat and her breathing slowly evened out into a restful rhythm.


	12. Chapter 12

The gas got them further than Quinlan expected. They didn’t stop, except for Emmy’s occasional bladder needs. He would use those chances to find a small animal to feed from. Sometimes he found something, sometimes he didn’t. There was no map to follow, just going off of road signs that were still in tact. Occasionally, they had to back up and find another route when one ended up being blocked too badly. They didn’t talk much. Emmy would sleep most of the night and he dozed during the day. 

They were lucky enough to be near an abandoned town when the gas started running low. They hadn’t even made it to West Virginia and while he was willing to walk, he didn’t want Emmy to have to yet. It had been slow going with the condition of the roads and trying to avoid driving through towns. So they risked getting off the road and heading into the town. Like most places, it was empty and the stores were sorely lacking in any kind of supplies. Emmy managed to find a few bottles of water and canned meat in the office of the gas station they pulled into. She didn’t seem all that excited at the food find, but like most, she wasn’t going to toss it away. Food was food these days to humans. He planned on hunting for her once they were further South and even teaching her to hunt a bit.

While she searched for supplies, he dealt with finding gas. Before dealing with the gas station reservoir, he checked the tanks on the few abandoned cars he found. He found a little in a small car that he was able to get out, but he ended up back at the reservoir for the station.

He pulled the lid free and peered inside. There was still gas. The smell alone told him that. Emmy grabbed a few gas containers so they could grab as much as possible. It wouldn’t be easy getting it out of the reservoir though, “I can climb in and fill the containers.”

“What? No, Quinlan, that’s insane. You’re not getting in there and standing in gas.”

“Emmy, I don’t have to breath.”

“That’s not the point. You’ll get soaked. One little accident and you’ll go up in flames.”

She shook her head, “No. You’re not climbing in there. Let’s look for a hose. Or...or a rope and a bucket. We can pull it out like a well.”

“Okay, but if it comes down to it, I’m climbing in there,” he started into the gas station as she headed back towards the town. 

Even though he let her go off to search for items they could use to get the gas out, he pulled off his coat and swung his legs over the edge of the reservoir opening and found his footing on the ladder. He just wanted to see how deep it was and see if he could get an idea of how much gas was actually in there.

Reaching the bottom of the ladder, he looked down to see the small ripple of liquid below. It would be enough to fill the tank and at least a few of the containers she had found. With a bucket and a funnel, they could fill up the containers pretty quick and be on their way. If she was able to find a rope and bucket, maybe they could find other camping supplies. At some point, the truck wasn’t going to make it. It would be good not to have to search for the things they would need. Just because he was comfortable digging a hole in the ground and sleeping in it didn’t mean he was going to make Emmy do that.

Noises above him made him look up, “Emmy? Did you find rope and a bucket?” there was no response, “Emmy?” the smell of the gas was blocking out his ability to smell anything else and he started climbing back up the ladder.

Too slowly though. The lid of the reservoir slid back over the opening and the clanging of it shutting into place was loud from inside, “Emmy!” he shouted as he raced up the ladder. The lid shouldn’t have been an issue for him, but it was heavier than before. Something large was over it. Being inside the large tank had skewed his senses and he had noticed too late that someone else had turned up.

“What’re we gonna do with them?” he heard voices above him.

“We don’t have to worry about that one. He’ll suffocate on the gas fumes eventually,” so there was at least two people. Quinlan pushed against the lid and it scraped against the ground a bit, “Christ! He fucking moved it! The hell is he!”

“Doesn’t matter. He ain’t getting out of there. When the girl comes back, we’ll get the truck keys from her.”

“What do we do with her?”

“She didn’t look too bad. Throw her in the back, I bet we can get something for her.”

His eyes went wide. It didn’t matter if they thought some gas fumes would kill him, but they were going to try to take Emmy and apparently try to sell her. What was it about humans when times got hard they took to selling each other? He had seen it so many times in human history and it always disgusted him. What was worse, was they usually did awful things to the humans being sold before they were sold. There was a good chance they would violate her before selling her, “Emmy!” he shouted as he pushed up on the reservoir tank lid. It rose and fell back down as he lost his grip.

“Shit! Let’s get her and get out of here before that freak gets out of there…”

It was clear to him that what blood he got from Jason was wearing off. He had to feed on a human again soon, “Emmy!” he couldn’t hear the other men anymore. He’d lost Tasa and Louisa both. Why he thought that he could protect Emmy, he didn’t know. Pushing harder, he felt whatever was holding the lid down shift a bit before it dropped back down. 

A scream managed to break through the lid and he started to panic, “Emmy! Emmy!” he didn’t know why he bothered to shout. It didn’t do any good. It wasn’t helping him and it wouldn’t help her. He had to get out of here.

He heard the truck starting. Quinlan knew they wouldn’t get far. There wasn’t enough gas to get far. But it would be far enough away to hurt Emmy if they had her, “No!” he growled as he pushed up and the items holding the lid down went tumbling away as he quickly climbed out. The truck was already moving down the road. He didn’t bother to see what had been trapping him down there. It didn’t matter.

Ignoring the pain of the sun in his eyes and the way it stung his skin, Quinlan took off down the street after the sound of the truck. Anger rising up inside of him and blinding him as he started to catch up with it. He saw Emmy in the bed of the truck. She was slumped over the blankets Fet had put in there and her sack. He flashbacked to memories of coming home to find Tasa having been abducted. Had they tossed her in the back of some cart before taking her somewhere to be violated and sold? Quinlan wouldn’t let that happen again.

Picking up his pace, Quinlan jumped and landed in the bed of the truck. It bounced at the sudden weight and he heard the men up front shout in surprise. Emmy’s body slid down from the sack and he saw blood running down from her hairline and the bruise forming on her face. Blind rage took over as he ran up the bed of the truck. His stinger rattled as it thrust forward from his mouth and smashed through the glass of the back window. It sank deeply into the throat of the man driving. 

Quinlan couldn’t tell if the men were shouting or if they were saying anything. That didn’t matter to him. They didn’t matter to him. He drank heavy and fast as the truck skid off the road. Despite coming after them for taking Emmy, he seemed to forget that she was in the truck with them. He was just focused on his vengeance against the two men.

The truck slid off the side of the road, kicking up dirt, and Emmy’s body rolled to the side and as it skidded sideways, she rolled out the open back of the truck and into the ditch. The truck slammed into a telephone pole. The second man inside was thrown into the windshield, but he was still capable enough to shout in fear as he tried to scrabble out of the truck. The door was wedged shut and Quinlan, having his fill of the first man who laid dead over the steering wheel, jumped out of the back of the truck and made his way over to the door.

The man inside tried to scramble over his head friend first and then tried to get out of broken back window. Both failed, just earning him gashes on broken glass, “Fuck, fuck, fuck! You’re one of those things!” he shouted as Quinlan ripped the door off the truck, “Ya’ll are fucking dead!” it wouldn’t be hard for people to see that his kind had dropped dead suddenly.

“Not all of us,” he growled as he reached in and grabbed the man by the throat and started hauling him from the cab. The man asked for air as he was thrown to the ground. Quinlan could have prolonged this and let the man suffer, but there was no point in that. Quinlan just wanted him dead. Even though he had already fed, he drove his stinger into the man’s throat. Despite draining the man and knowing he was dead, Quinlan reached down and grabbed the sides of the man’s head and twisted hard and fast till he heard the familiar cracking sound. The body went limp to the ground and he turned to look at her body lying in the ditch as his stinger retreated.

Walking over, he knelt down next to her and brushed some hair from her face, “Tasa…” he said softly before closing his eyes and shaking his head a little. This wasn’t Tasa. It was Emmy and she was still alive. He looked her over carefully, there didn’t seem to be any major injuries. He stood and looked around. Those men had come from somewhere and likely had transportation. They would have only wanted the truck because a truck was able to haul more. There was likely a car somewhere.

Moving back to the truck, he grabbed the supplies from the back and threw them over his shoulder before going back to scoop her up in his arms. It didn’t take long to find the car that had the scent of the two men inside of it. It was small, but it would do. It’s condition wasn’t much different from the truck. Quinlan laid her out in the backseat of it before loading the few things they had into the trunk.

By the time he found the car keys on the bodies he’d left behind, got the car to the gas station, and dealt with getting the tank and containers filled; it was nightfall. Smelling like gasoline, he looted through several houses before he found clean clothes that fit and managed to wash off some of the smell with the water from an old pool. It wasn’t the cleanest water, but he’d clean more properly the next time they stopped.

The half-breed was ready to start the car up when he heard her groan from the backseat. Leaning over the seat, he watched as her eyes fluttered open and she groaned in pain again, “Emmy? Emmy, can you hear me?”

“...nnnnn...Quinlan?”

Slowly, he climbed into the back seat, crouching uncomfortably on the floorboard near her, “I wasn’t sure when you would wake.”

“What...what happened?” she asked slowly, her voice a little shaky and her eye barely cracked open.

“Some inbred, rednecks,” he shook his head a little, “How’re you feeling?”

“...sore…my face hurts...I was coming back to the gas station and...I don’t remember anything else,” her eyes opened more and she looked around a little, but it obviously pained her to move too much, “Where am I? Where’s the truck?”

“...” he looked down for a moment, “They tried to take it and there was an accident,” Quinlan feared she would question the situation further. That things would get worse between them because of his reaction to their taking her.

But it didn’t happen, “Oh...I’m very tired…”

He nodded, “You rest. I’ll drive for now.”

Before he could climb back into the driver’s seat, she reached up and touched his cheek, “Thank you, Quinlan,” her fingers slipped away and she curled up on the seat to rest more. He covered her with one of the blankets before making his way behind the steering wheel.

As they made their way out of the small town, he looked at the wrecked truck as they passed by it. Quinlan couldn’t see inside the truck cab, but he tensed a little as he noticed the lack of the second body. The one that he had dragged out of the truck was nowhere to be seen. He though to stop and investigate, but Quinlan just wanted to move on from this experience. He imagined even if he did stop, it would the same as Jason’s body. No clues.

For now, it was just best to drive as far as they could before they needed to stop again.


	13. Chapter 13

The light from the fire glinted off the blade of the knife he had found. They were somewhere in Tennessee and had managed to find enough gas to keep the car running. Sometimes it involved having to tear apart a few abandoned cars to get the last few drops of gas from the gas tank, but they always managed to find just enough to get them a little further. They looted houses as they went as well. Mostly looking for clean clothing, but they often found other useful things. Like the knife. Quinlan found that he missed his sword. 

The guns were nice and useful, but the sword had been with him for a very long time. It fit perfectly in his hand and it felt like an extension of his arm. It had been as much a part of his body as any other part was. And now it was gone.

The knife would work for what he needed it to. To clean and cut up anything they hunted down for her to eat. He also planned on showing her how to use it to defend herself. The men who had grabbed her, she had fought them, but they overpowered her fairly easily. While he hoped for the situation never to come up again, he knew that was impossible to ensure. Better her be prepared for the worst.

Holding it up, he eyed the blade before running his finger along it to check the edge. It seemed that it was as good as it was going to be. It was a good, little hunting knife and would do well for what they needed.

His pale blue eyes lifted up and he caught sight of her sitting next to the fire. They traveled slow, which he found he didn’t mind so much, and it was starting to get cool in the nights. They stopped a lot. Not just to take care of themselves or rest, but also just to look at things. In his long life, he didn’t set aside much time for ‘sightseeing’. He had seen all the great monuments of the world, many of them while they were built, but stopping to just enjoy what he was seeing wasn’t at the top of his list.

They stopped to look at rivers and hills and forests. It was...nice.

Setting the knife aside, he moved over to sit next to her. She was eating from a sleeve of crackers she had found. He made a mental note that the next river or creek they found, they should try to catch some fish. Not only could they feed her, but he could use it as bait to catch something larger that would last longer. Something larger would serve them both. He could survive on it’s blood and she on the meat. 

They were generally quiet. Nothing much needed to be said between them. They didn’t discuss much about the men he had killed. She seemed to understand his reasons for it, “Are you sure you want to camp here? The sign said the town wasn’t too far. We could see if it has a hotel,” they had occasionally camped in abandoned hotels. There were plenty of homes they could do that in, but she seemed uncomfortable with that. Like they were invading someone’s home, even though there was a good chance those people were dead. Hotels didn’t have personal items laying around.

Emmy smiled and set the crackers aside before wrapping her arms around his neck. Instinctively, he settled his hands on her hips and pulled her closer till she laid her head under his chin. His stinger rattled, but there was nothing he could do to help that. The two men he had drained had been more than a week ago. In the past, one human, fully drained, could sustain him for nearly a month. Yet Jason and the two other men had barely lasted him a week each. Despite the more stagnant lifestyle he was now leading, his body seemed to be burning through the extra energy at an extraordinary pace.

“Why would I want that, when I can curl up with you out here?” she said softly.

Rebuilding intimacy with Emmy had been easier than he thought it would be. The first few times they camped outside, she slept in the car. Then when they stayed at hotels, she would sleep in a bed and he, refusing to go far from her, would either rest in a chair in the room or just outside the door. But then one night, she asked him to come to bed with her. It wasn’t too different from their first time sharing a bed. A little kissing and then sleep.

As she tilted her head up, he leaned over to kiss her. His arms wrapping around her tightly to pull her close. Quinlan tried to keep his stinger at bay, but it rattled loudly in his chest as she moved to straddle his lap and wrap her legs around his hips. Hands sliding down and below her backside, he held her hips up against his as their kissing deepened. Sliding his lips down her chin and towards her neck, she moaned softly. It felt wonderful.

Unfortunately, it didn’t last as his stinger rattled more loudly and he pulled away before it could try to plunge into her throat, “...I’m sorry,” he said softly, “I should go feed.”

“No. Don’t go,” she moaned before pecking a few small kisses against his lips as her fingers gripped onto the shoulders of his coat.

As much as he wanted to stay, he knew he couldn’t, “Emmy, I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You won’t. I trust you, Quinlan,” he liked when she said things like that, “I want you,” she purred and he shivered a little. They hadn’t made love since their first time. 

“Emmy…” he started as he turned his head away a bit, feeling his stinger moving in his chest. 

It was only eased by surprise as he felt her lips on his neck. He had told her that his neck was sensitive, but till now, she had yet to do anything with that information. Affection between them had been limited till now since their one evening together. While he wanted the intimacy again, he had been more than willing to wait and even accepting of the possibility that it would never happen again. When she had asked him back into bed with her at the hotel, he had been content that laying together, even clothed, was the extent of their intimacy. It felt good just to hold her.

But right now, feeling her lips over the swirled folds of his neck made him shiver. For the first time in a long time, his human urges overrode his Strigoi needs. Her tongue traced over the lines of his wattle and he groaned lowly. Tilting his head a bit, to give her more access, he wrapped one arm tighter around her waist as his free hand slid up her back and into her hair. Quinlan didn’t grip, just rested his hand in her hair as she kissed and played with his neck. The stinger still rattled, but he found it easy to keep it at bay for now.

The scent of her arousal hit him and he liked knowing that giving him some kind of pleasure excited her. Quinlan lost track of how much time was actually passing. He just focused on the feel of her lips and tongue. She left no spot of his neck untouched. Her fingers ran over his head and down to his shoulders as she moved her head from one side of his neck to the other to provide it with attention. The wattle would swell slightly as his stinger attempted to rise, but he forced it back down. She didn’t hesitate.

That meant more than anything else to him. Emmy didn’t shy away anymore in fear of her life. She meant it when she said she trusted him. 

Emmy’s teeth nipped at the side of his neck and he shivered, “Emmy…” he said softly as he lowered both his hands back to her hips before sliding them around to the front of her jeans. She had said she wanted him and he was more than willing to provide her with whatever pleasure he could manage to give her.

Her lips moved up his neck and she teased the bottom of his ear with her teeth as he started working her pants open, “Quinlan,” she moaned his name softly, “I want you to feed from me.”

The look of surprise on her face when he pulled back quickly told him that she had expected him to just go through with it, “W-what? You don’t mean that, Emmy. You don’t have to do that. I can go find something to feed from.”

Emmy’s face flushed and she looked down a little, “This isn’t something I just decided on, Quinlan. I’ve thought this through. You’ve done so much for me…”

“Emmy, this isn’t something I want you to do because you feel as if you need to repay me for something. I want you to know, that you do as much for me as I do for you,” it was obvious that she didn’t seem to feel that way and he felt upset with himself that he hadn’t reassured her before now, “You left your family and friends for me. Left behind everything you knew and for what? For me. There’s nothing I can do that can ever come close to that, Emmy. Just the way you look at me, it means more than I can say.”

She smiled softly and leaned in to kiss him lightly, “I still want to do this. It’s not just what you’ve done for me. I really want to do this. I want to share myself with you in any way I can. I know it won’t be painless, but I trust you and I know you wouldn’t do anything that would truly hurt me. I want to please you and share this with you.”

The half-breed didn’t know what to say. This wasn’t the way he had first had it happen with Tasa. The winter had been harsh and it was difficult to find anything for him to feed from. Future years, they had planned and prepared better for the snow. He had considered feeding from one of their servants. But that night, huddled in their bed together, keeping her warm with the natural heat from his body; Tasa told him to feed from her. She was well fed and not in any danger of a light feeding hurting her health. He had only taken the barest bit from her. After that, it was done in a more loving manner and not for necessity.

Reaching up, he pushed his fingers through her hair and kissed her lovingly, “That you want to do this for me, Emmy, I can’t say how much it means to me. Nothing would please me more than to be intimate with you in that way.”

“I want to know what it feels like to be with you in every way possible.”

As difficult as it was, because he did want to lay her out on the ground and crawl up between her thighs and sink his stinger into her, Quinlan managed to resist, “We can’t. Not right now.”

“Why not?”

“You’ve not been eating well and you’ve been losing weight,” not much, but he could start to feel a slight difference when he held her this close, “It will leave you light headed and drowsy,” not that he couldn’t make her feel good while it was happening, but after wards, in his experience, she would be weary for a day or so. It wasn’t like giving blood medically. He wasn’t drawing it from her vein, but rather from a major artery and no matter how hard he tried, it would be a significant quantity. She would be exhausted and he needed to make sure they were prepared for that, “As much as I want to, Emmy, and believe me, I do...it’s not a good time right now.”

She was silent for a minute, leaning over and resting her head against his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her, “When would be a good time?”

Quinlan couldn’t help the small smile that twitched on his lips, “We need to make sure you’ve eaten well before and have food for you to eat afterwards. I would prefer a bed to let you rest in,” and to have his way with her in. Not that he minded to have his way with her here in the dirt, but it didn’t seem an appropriate place for his first time feeding from her. He wanted a warm bed for them to stretch out on. Despite many believing him to be an animal and him not minding to live outside and even sleeping buried in the dirt, Quinlan did prefer a bed. He knew it was the human side of his brain that allowed him to enjoy things such as comfortable clothing, bedding, and even shelter.

“So what you’re saying is that I should have decided to go to the hotel tonight?” she asked teasingly.

He smiled again and ran his hands along her back, “Perhaps I can find you something suitable to eat when I go find something for myself,” that needed to be done anyway. She couldn’t continue to survive on random candy bars in broken vending machines and packets of crackers, “I do think, what would be enjoyable tonight, would be to lay together in the back of the car,” it would be warmer and she would have to lay out against his chest, “More so if we both were more...bare.”

He wanted to feel her skin against his. He didn’t expect them both to strip down completely out here or even in the car, but she had been willing to allow him to remove her pants. Their bare torsos against each other would be more than pleasing for him. Quinlan had yet to see her completely nude. She had seen him, when she found him by the river, but that was hardly the best situation. It wasn’t that he felt he deserved to see her, but he was eager to.

A soft sigh escaped his lips as she began kissing at his neck again, “I think we can manage that,” though she was making it difficult to want to move from their current position.

When they did finally part, he had every intention of going to feed, but he watched as she started for the car. She pulled her sweater up over her head and playfully tossed it over the trunk before opening the car door. The stinger rattled, urging him to go feed, but he watched her through the back window. She was hidden by the back of the seat, but he could see her pulling her top off and he restrained his stinger once again. The need to feel her body against his was more important.

Slowly, he climbed to his feet and pulled his jacket off as he walked towards the car. He tossed it with her sweater before opening the car door and pulling the seat forward. She was huddled up on the seat at the other end, holding the thin blanket she usually slept with against her chest with a smile on her face, “Thought you were going to go feed first?”

“It can wait till morning,” he said as he climbed into the back seat with her and closing the door. It went dark, but he could still see her. He could tell she was hesitant to let go of the blanket. She wasn’t pleased with her own body. It was what had stopped her from allowing him to remove her top completely the first time they made love. Quinlan didn’t expect perfection. Even back in the time with his wife, there had been expectations put on women. Tasa, being a Berber, had not been considered attractive by the standards of the Romans. 

The difference being that Emmy was more self conscious than any woman he had been with before. He imagined much of it had to do with how often she was exposed to these expectations compared to the women in his past. Television, magazines, the internet, and films of her life would have been hard to ignore. It wasn’t the way she appeared that he cared for, though he did see her as attractive. All Quinlan wanted was to feel her against him.

Quinlan would allow her all the time she needed. He pulled the simple shirt over his head and dropped it into the front seat before leaning back against the car, allowing her to make the choice to come to him when she was ready.

It took some time, but she slowly scooted her away across the seat and finally let the blanket drop from her hands. He did his best to keep his eyes on her face. Not wanting to draw attention to parts of her body she might not be pleased with. There was time in the future for exploring each others bodies more fully, after all.

Adjusting themselves on the seat of the car, it was a tight fit and not the most comfortable. Emmy fit better back here than he did, but he had no intentions of leaving for the sake of comfort. He could forget that. Especially once he wrapped his arms around her back arms and felt his fingers rest against her bare back. Emmy’s body was soft. Not just her skin, but soft in general. Even with recent weight loss, he could still feel the slight, round of flesh on her side where her waist started to form. What was it he had heard women call it? A _roll_. 

She was a little chilled, but he knew she would heat up soon as the unnatural heat from his own body pressed against her. Quinlan stroked his fingers along her lower back and she shivered a little before nuzzling her head into his neck. It wasn’t long before her breathing steadied and her heartbeat evened out from her nervousness. 

So long as he could do this, he never needed anything more from her. Soon, they would be in Louisiana and they would find somewhere to start a life together. He could spend every night this way with her.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a two chapter update this time, but they are both decent in length, so I hope that makes up for it. Enjoy!

They made their way into Louisiana with little trouble. It was surprisingly pleasant. They stayed off main roads whenever they could and they only went into towns when absolutely necessary. There was only one incident where they came upon a small group of people living out of an abandoned hotel that they had considered sleeping at. They were both woken by the sound of breaking glass and Quinlan found the scavengers trying to get into the car they had been using. They saw him and panicked. Rather than trying to run away, they attacked him.

Emmy had managed to run down one that had got away from him while he was dealing with another. She understood the importance of keeping his existence a secret. Fet would ensure no one back in her home went around spreading information about him, not that anyone would believe them anyway. But she knew if one group of scavengers knew, it wouldn’t be long before others found out. Rumors would start to spread and they would soon track him down.

He wouldn’t let her take their lives, not that he was sure she could even if she tried, but he did send her away while he took care of it. It was easy to tell that knowing he had killed people so recently was still hard on her. They talked about it, but he knew it was still difficult for her to accept. 

The car lasted them quite a ways, but they finally ran out of gas and were unable to find more not far from the stateline. Luckily, neither of them traveled heavy and Emmy didn’t seem opposed to walking. It did mean more stopping though. While she could handle going by foot, she tired more quickly than he did. Their first night camping, she passed out immediately and he had to rouse her in the morning when she didn’t wake on her own.

For the past two nights, they had been taking shelter in a motel that was likely rather run down even before the eternal night started. A pay by the hour sort of place that only took cash. It had been mostly picked clean by scavengers by this point, but they had their own blankets and while the mattresses might have been questionable, it wasn’t much different from the ground they had been sleeping on. And it was better than being out in the rain. 

There didn’t seem to be an end in sight for the storm that had blown in, but they were comfortable enough. They managed to build a fire pit in one of the other rooms and not burn the place down so Emmy had a place to cook food for herself. Quinlan had helped her with learning how to catch things, but their hunting supplies were limited and most of that work fell to him. He didn’t mind though. He needed the animals he caught as much as she did. 

Emmy had looted a library that they passed by. While they couldn’t bring many books with, she kept a few small ones. She had been slightly surprised to find out that he actually enjoyed fantasy and fiction books to those based on history and fact. It was simply a matter of having lived through much of what was written about in those books and being able to note the falsities and having to relive it in his memories. If he was going to read, he preferred something he had no chance of dealing with in real life. Not that he liked dime-store stuff. Quinlan preferred more in depth stories. 

While he rested on the bed, reading _The Hobbit_ , he could hear her in the bathroom cleaning up using rain water they had collected for that purpose. While he had liked her long, dark hair, it was difficult to manage and keep clean. With his help, they used the hunting knife to cut her hair shorter. It hung in a rather choppy style just under her ears now. Quinlan found that he liked it. If for nothing else, it made her look very different from Tasa. It made the rounder shape of her face and the almond shape of her eyes more noticeable. 

His pale blue eyes watched over the top of the book as she came out of the bathroom, shaking water from her shortened hair. The room was mostly dark, just a small camp lantern that occasionally flickered as the batteries were starting to go out. They had walled up the front window with items from the other rooms to keep anyone outside from seeing the light. They would be moving on once the storm passed. Emmy wanted to head into swamp areas. It seemed like a good idea. Less chances of coming across people. As for finding shelter, they hadn’t decided on that yet. Quinlan would be fine with continuing to just travel, but he would be happier settling down and trying to find some semblance of a life he’d once had.

While she was still rather self conscious, Emmy walked nude in front of the bed as she hung her wet clothing up on a line they had mounted across the room. It had been nice to come across a stash of hotel soap to clean themselves and their clothing with, but a lack of electricity left them to hand washing and line drying their clothes. 

She might not have liked her own body, but he did. Quinlan had been around long enough to understand beauty was fluid and subjective. The first woman he had known was his mother. Vicious thing that she had been, she had cared for him. Taught him to hunt and feed. Her body ravaged and altered by the worms coursing through her. But her love for him made her beautiful to him. 

The next had been Ancharia. The old woman had saved him from the freak show and taught him to speak and helped him find his humanity. Her lined and age worn eyes always look upon him with care and kindness. She had been the first person to trust him. Taken the cage off his face and believed that he would not attack her. That trust made her beautiful to him.

Then there was Tasa. The first woman he had truly loved. He had taken care to be seen as a freak, but still human. Only a select few people at that time knew him for what he really was. When the other men had attacked Tasa and her daughter, even against his orders that women with children were to remain untouched, he was enraged. Attacking them and drinking them in front of her. The Sun Hunter to the Ancient he knew at the time had suggested killing her and the child for fear of her telling others what she had seen him do, but he looked into her eyes and knew she wouldn’t say anything. His connection to her and her child had been instant and she had been the only thought in his mind when he thought he had been near death. Her slender waist, rounded hips, and long dark hair were a harsh contrast to his own appearance. She was an exotic beauty to him.

Louisa had been nothing special at first. Just a woman who had sought him out in the hopes that he could turn her brother immortal and save him from the disease that ravaged his mind and body. While disappointed, greatly so, when he dashed admitted he had no such ability to turn her brother; she had not turned him out. Despite not being able to help her brother, she had found him interesting and even sought to help him. At first, he had felt ‘dolled up’ when she started applying the make up to him, but seeing the finished product, he wasn’t sure how to feel. Except for his eyes, he looked...human. For a time, he wondered if she had only done it because she couldn’t stand the way he really looked, but after a while he realized it was only because she wanted to be with him in public and the makeup simply made it easier to keep people from noticing him. Physically, she had been nothing like Tasa, but he still found her beautiful for her desire to be with him as any man could with a woman.

Now there was Emmy. With her shorn short hair, her breasts that were a little heavier and hung lower than she probably liked. The slight bulge to her stomach, though it was smaller than when he first met her due to their travel. The stretch marks that showed easily on her hips. And the way her cheeks puffed a little when she smiled big, like a chipmunk with too much food in it’s cheeks. She was a bit shorter than the other women he had been close to in his life and liked to fit her head just under his chin when they laid together. He liked every bit of her form the same as he had any other woman he’d loved in his life.

Just as he did with the handful of other women in his life, he found more than just her form appealing. She could talk at length on a variety of subjects. While she came from a small area, she had taught in a number of schools over the years and she had cared deeply for her students. They touched on the subject of her infertility. After being with Bryan for a few years, they had talked of having children of their own one day. Intimacy being so difficult between them, they had sought other options, such as in vitro. While it appeared that Bryan’s sperm was healthy, they doctors found that Emmy had poor egg health. She only had one working ovary and the one that worked did not seem to hold many viable eggs. While it would not have been completely impossible for her to have a child of her own, it was highly unlikely. He held her when she cried about it. About feeling ‘broken’. 

Quinlan found everything about Emmy to be beautiful. Even if she didn’t find anything about herself to be so.

After hanging her clothing to dry, she ran over to the bed quick to climb under the blankets to remain exposed for as little time as possible. Setting the book aside, he pushed up to sit straighter against the headboard of the bed and she curled up close to him, using the natural warmth of his body to heat herself. He pulled her close and enjoyed the feel of her skin against his, “Rain doesn’t seem as hard tonight. Maybe it will let up tomorrow.”

“That would be good,” he said softly as he ran his fingers along the back of her shoulders.

“I found some papers in the lobby yesterday about this place called Atchafalaya Basin. It’s a long ways away, but it sounds interesting. Lots of marsh land and forests. The pictures looked very nice.”

Quinlan smiled lightly, “I’m not sure I can live somewhere that I can’t pronounce the name.”

Sitting up, Emmy smiled back, “Let me help you…” she leaned in and touched her lips against his, “Atchafalaya.”

“Atchafalaya,” he said with her, letting their lips just barely brush against each other, “No. Still not sure I’m getting it right,” he found it easy to be playful with Emmy, “I think I need more help.”

“You know, I’m not that fond of the whole teacher play in the bedroom, but I think I can make an exception for this,” she teased back before pressing her lips flush against his.

Their intimacy had been restricted to laying together while she slept off her exhaustion from a day of walking. It had still been nice, but now that she had properly rested for a few days, she seemed in better health and more lively. She had ate well on a deer he had caught to feed on by wrapping thin strips of meat around a stick and roasting it over the fire. 

His hands slid along her hips as he moved to press her down towards the bed. Her soft body pressed against his under the thin blanket. While she had concerns over her own body, he had been worried she might find lying completely nude with him to be strange. Emmy was well aware of what his body looked like and, for the most part, he looked like any other man. But he was worried she would press herself against him and find the lack of certain parts to be oddly uncomfortable.

She hadn’t though. 

The night before, they merely kissed for a bit before falling asleep, but tonight she pressed up against him and moaned softly as he pressed her against the mattress. Her fingers dug into his shoulders as he pulled her hips up against his own. It felt wonderful, as always, to be this close with her. Her legs moved up against his own and he pressed himself firmly between her thighs. The first time he had done that, she had panicked and ended their kissing for that night, but now she wrapped her legs around him and kissed him more deeply. Quinlan was confident in his ability to please her.

It didn’t offer the same sort of ridged seam that jeans did for her to rub against, but he pressed the smoothed mound between his own legs against her and she bucked up against him. They rocked their bodies against each other slowly as she wrapped her legs more tightly around him. Quinlan knew she could receive more than enough stimulation externally. He was proven right as she bucked against him more eagerly and moaned against his lips.

Sitting up, forcing her to unlock her legs, he looked over her. She was a little less shy once she was further in the mood, he’d noticed. Slowly, he dragged his fingers over her shoulders and down her body. He liked the way his fingers dented into the soft skin and the way she arched up into his touch. Emmy shivered as he toyed with the hard nipple on one of her breasts before dragging it down over her soft stomach, “Quinlan…” she moaned as he traced the curve of her pelvic area.

It was nice watching the way she shivered and squirmed as he ran his fingertip down the length of her slit. Even if he couldn’t smell her arousal, he could feel it. The dampness told him that well enough. The pad of his finger pressed against her clit and circled it a bit. He smiled lightly as her hips twitched as she tried to keep them down against the mattress. Emmy whimpered and he found himself gazing at her thigh. He couldn’t ignore the sound of her heart racing and her blood pumping. The deer he had fed from the night before had been filling, but not satisfying.

Quinlan lowered his hand to her entrance and slow pressed the digit inside of her. She moaned and rocked her hips against him as he pressed his hips to the back of his hand. He tried to focus back on her face, but his eyes kept trailing to the various points on her body that he knew he could feed from the easiest.

His stinger rattled and he felt it pressing at the sides of his mouth and him involuntarily opening his lips. It took a great deal of willpower to choke it back and he pulled his hand free from between her thighs suddenly. She gasped and he focused on her face finally. She looked shocked and just a little disappointed. Her body was shivering and he realized she had been close to orgasm. To have it stop so quickly likely wasn’t the most pleasant of things, “Q-q-quinlan...is something wrong?” her voice was shaky as she tried to speak through what was likely her dying orgasm.

Reaching up, he touched her cheek softly and leaned over to press a kiss against her lips, “No. I just…” he wanted to use words that didn’t make her sound like prey, “...I want to taste you, Emmy,” that sounded better than _feed_ or _drink_. He could feel her face getting warmer and she shivered a little, “You can say no. I won’t be upset,” she’d been eager to allow it once before, but he knew she could have thought more on it since then and changed her thoughts about it.

“It won’t...it won’t hurt, will it?” she asked nervously.

“I can’t say. I’ve never experienced it myself. Those I’ve done this with before say there is a stringing feeling. Like a bee sting or a papercut. I won’t do it the way others of my kind do,” or the way she may have seen him with the few people they had encountered. He wasn’t going to shoot his stinger out and let it stab into her the way he did for a full feeding. Quinlan had better control of his appendage than the spawn of his father had. 

Emmy was silent for a moment and he was sure she would ask that they not do as he wanted. While he would be disappointed, he knew he couldn’t be upset. 

“...Alright. Yes. I...I want to do this,” he almost thought to question her if she was sure, but he held that urge back. He was elated at her acceptance and kissed her deeply. Emmy’s arms wrapped around his neck and her legs pressed up against his hips as he pressed down between her thighs again. 

Their bodies rocked together and he felt her hips twitching against his. As eager as he was to drink from her, he wanted to bring her to completion first. As he’d found in the past, it seemed to help. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he pushed down harder against her as she humped against his body. Their lips parted, both of them moaning softly as he trailed her lips down to his neck. Her tongue traced the lines on his neck and he rocked his hips more quickly against hers. Quinlan could feel how excited she was.

Parting their bodies once again, Quinlan thrust his hand back down between her legs and pressed his fingers into her body. She moaned loudly as he tilted his head to reach her neck and pressed quick kisses to it. She wiggled below him, rocking her hips hard against his hand. His stinger forced itself out and he felt the fanged tendrils drag along her throat. The throaty gasp nearly made him stop, but knowing he would be able to feed from her in moments seemed to keep the appendage from burying itself into her neck.

Kissing down her chest, he kept his fingers working inside of her as he lowered himself into a better position. He knew the shivering going through her body as he kissed along her thigh was more than just excitement. She was nervous and he was determined to show her that this could be enjoyable for her.

So close to the source of her arousal, Quinlan found himself watching his fingers work into her body, bringing her closer and closer to the edge. It wasn’t as if he had never done this before, but he had this incredible urge to sink his stinger inside of her. To let it probe her body in a way neither of them had ever experienced.

It was only her cry of pleasure that snapped him out of his thoughts. She was so very near her climax and he turned his attention to her thigh. Instinctively, he knew where his target was. Passing his lips over the spot, he moved his fingers more quickly and he felt her shivering and twitching, “Oh Quinlan! Quinlan!” she called out as he pressed his open mouth against her thigh.

Her orgasm hit. He could feel her clenching around his fingers and her hips jerk as her legs tensed. As the waves of pleasure rolled through her, he let the tendrils of his stingers press against her skin without the fangs digging in. She wasn’t prey. She didn’t need to be held in place. The thin, hollow, central talon moved out quick to bury into her. He could have done it more slowly, but he found that it seemed to cause less discomfort the quicker he did it. The mark left behind would be nearly non-existent and would seal up almost the second he released the suction. Had he any care for what he was, he would have been more fascinated at what sort of anatomy the stinger actually had.

The taste of her blood flowing through his stinger was enough to block out nearly everything else for a moment. He moaned deeply and the hand on her thigh gripped tighter. He realized she was B positive. Like all of his kind, it was the preferred blood type to ingest. Quinlan didn’t know or care why. The blood flow was slow. He didn’t want to take too much. Just taste her. 

The stinger throbbed lightly as he drank and his fingers continued thrusting inside of her. He could hear her panting and moaning now that he had his initial taste of her done. It meant more to him than he could say to be with her this way. Her blood smelled sweet and it was warm. While he knew that this couldn’t be a daily thing they could do, he did hope she found enough enjoyment and pleasure to consider it being a part of their intimacy as often as possible.

Her second orgasm wasn’t nearly as strong as the first and he could feel her heart beating dulling to a less aroused pace. Quinlan realized he was taking too much and it was time to stop. As much as his body wanted him to keep going, but withdrew the talon and broke the suction hold on her thigh before sitting up. He took a moment to care for her paper cut like wound. A small drip of blood rolled down from it before he ran a finger over it and was sure that it was sealed. His eyes went to the finger marks on her thigh from how tightly he had been gripping. They wouldn’t bruise, he was sure of it.

Slowly, he withdrew his fingers from inside of her and his pale blue eyes looked at the wetness that soaked her privates and the mattress below. The urge to do as he’d never done before came over him again. It was much harder to resist this time and he leaned down to press his lips against her wet slit. Emmy cooed softly and squirmed slightly below him as he kissed down to her entrance. He could tell she was tired. Her body didn’t move the same and her breathing was more steady. He’d overdone it, he could see that.

Emmy was relaxed below him, but still whimpering pleasurably as he let his tongue slip out and against her entrance. He’d never tasted a woman this way before. Much for the same reason he didn’t want her tongue in his mouth or his inside of her mouth.

Quinlan was lost in the new feeling and taste of her body, he only realized what was happening when she screamed and kicked herself away from him. Scooting herself up the bed in an attempt to get away from him. He’d tried to hold her, sinking his fingers into her hips, but he let go quickly as it dawned on him what was happening. The Born felt his stinger retreating back into the nesting like spot it resided inside of his chest. 

Her dark blue eyes were wide and she was paled with fear. It was even worse than the time he had nearly bit into her throat while they were kissing. Quinlan realized he’d attempted to penetrate her. The sudden rush of fear didn’t sit well with her recent blood loss and she looked as if she were ready to be ill, “Wh-wh-what’re you...d-doing?!” she was shaking like a leaf, but not from pleasure this time. 

“Emmy…” he didn’t know what to say. He’d always been cautious in ensuring the women he was with were comfortable with the things he was going to do before doing them, “I’m so sorry,” it was the first thing he could think of, but he knew that wasn’t good enough, “I don’t know why I did that. I’ve never done that before,” he wouldn’t try to make an excuse for it. It was wrong and he knew that. Had she not kicked away or he not released his grip on her, he couldn’t imagine the damage that could have done to her body should he have succeeded.

“I think you should sleep in one of the other rooms.”

He thought to try to convince her to let him stay. To talk about what had happened. But what was the use in that? She needed time to rest and recover. It would do her no good to force her to stay awake and talk about his near violation of her body, “If that’s what you would like.”

Quietly, he climbed from the bed and pulled his still damp clothing from the drying line strung across the room. By the time he had the pants on and turned to look at her again, she had pulled the blanket up high around her body and was looking off to the side to avoid his gaze. It had been a long time since he felt a sense of shame in this way. In most things, he justified his actions, but he could see nothing redeeming in what he’d done.

Before leaving, he said over his shoulder, “I truly am sorry, Emmy. I don’t want you to forgive me, but I need you to know that I’ve never done that before. I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life, but I’ve never, never done anything of that nature before. I don’t know why I did it. I would never do anything to hurt you,” at least not physically. He seemed incapable of preventing emotional distress, but he could promise to never hurt her.

Quinlan hesitated for a moment, as if waiting for her to say something, but she didn’t. She just sat curled up on the bed, clutching the blanket to her chest as if it would somehow shield her. 

Hanging his head a bit, he left the room.


	15. Chapter 15

The next few weeks were quiet. More so than after the incident with the men at the gas station. He had gone back to her room the next night, but found the door locked and she wouldn’t answer him when he called out. It wasn’t as if the lock could keep him out, but he knew better than to do that. She needed her time, it seemed, and it would be wrong of him to force the discussion. He could smell her and hear her heartbeat, so Quinlan knew she was still in there and alive.

When she did finally let him in, because he knocked every night and waited at least ten minutes to see if she would open the door, Emmy asked that they not talk about it. That she still needed more time to think about it, but that they needed to get going if they were going to find a place to settle before winter set in. They were far enough south that winter wouldn’t be near as harsh as back in her home, but they would still need proper shelter. It did make him feel a little better that she talked about it as ‘we’ and ‘they’, so she still wanted him with her. But then he told himself that perhaps that was just because she was scared of not being able to survive on her own.

As they continued to travel, he got the sense of that more and more. They didn’t talk the way they did before and she kept her distance from him. Most times, she would have her jacket closed tight and her arms around around her torso while being sure to stay several feet behind and to the side of him. Their talks were limited to when to stop for rest, when to find food, and discussing the map they had taken from the hotel. It wasn’t the relationship he wanted, but part of him was simply content with her presence even if it wasn’t intimate anymore.

They travelled further south. While there were still many areas that had been abandoned, they were starting to see more and more human life. There were burn piles of the dead bodies of his father’s breed. While his talons had reached wide and far, the further south they went, the less effect there seemed to have been. It was noticeable that The Master’s reach had started having an influence in these areas though.

At first, he thought this might be a problem and that they should travel back north, but as they moved into swamp and marsh areas, it seemed a better situation. It seemed luck that they found what appeared to be some sort of boat house, but on the swamp waters. It looked to have been abandoned far longer than the Strigoi incident. It took a bit of work to lasso a post on it and drag it to shore. The first physical contact between them was Emmy taking his hand to help make sure he could board it. He didn’t tell her that he could have boarded it without her help while it was up on the shore.

It was in need of great repair and it was barely more than a large room surrounded by old, metal siding with some wooden posts for support. The small stove acted as a heater for colder days and there was little in the way of anything else. It appeared to have housed squatters and drug addicts for years before now. But it would do.

Quinlan travelled back to the nearest still inhabited town and stole basic things in the middle of the night. He did it in small quantities and only what they needed to clean and repair with. A broom, rags, and bleach at first. The decided to leave the outside of the little, floating shack still look as if it were in disrepair. After the initial clean up, they went about getting the things they needed to fix up the inside. It wasn’t easy, but they managed to scavenge from what appeared to be unused homes and trailers not too far away. Emmy wasn’t fond of stealing from abandoned homes, but she agreed it was better to take from those than to steal anymore from the town.

There was no way to provide running water or any kind of electricity to the shack, but they would find ways to make due as they had in their travels so far. One way was to create a hole in the roofing and place a large bin under it to collect rain water. Emmy could boil it and use it for whatever she needed. For lighting, they used candles as little as possible, just to make them last. Generally, once it was too dark out for Emmy to see, she would settle down to sleep and he would go out to hunt for something to feed on.

The wildlife he found to feed on wasn’t his preferred, but it would suffice just as well as anything else. He preferred to feed from mammals. Though he could survive on the reptilian and amphibian life here. The few mammals that he did find most often were small and barely worth the effort in catching. He did find a bobcat once and a few large nutria. But for the most part, he was wrangling large turtles. It was tempting to go after the few alligators and even a black bear he saw once, but it seemed like a waste when their little shack wasn’t set up to handle using the rest of the animal yet. Draining it and just letting the meat go to waste seemed wrong. At least with the turtles, Emmy could cook that on the small stove. 

One day, they found that a few of the floorboards moved out and exposed a storage like area that was sunk into the water. It was cool and dry. It didn’t span the length of the little shack, but it seemed like it could be useful for food storage for her. It wouldn’t work as well as a modern fridge, but it could be used for short term storage. Once they managed to set up a better area for cooking, he could start bringing back larger animals. Emmy wasn’t too fond of eating turtles and he doubted she would like alligator or bobcat much better, but she was learning to manage. But the storage space could be used for things they found in the houses they raided that were non-perishable.

While talk between them was quiet and limited to discussion on what things they needed and when to sleep, Quinlan realized they couldn’t avoid it anymore. He knew it was her choice to decide if she wanted to talk about what happened, but he deserved to know where his place was. Especially when they brought back a mattress from one of the cleaner looking houses. It wasn’t as large as the hotel ones they had been sleeping in prior, but he felt a smaller one was better. It reminded him of the one back at Fet’s place and it seemed safer to have a smaller bed on the floating shack. Part of him knew that it would be lying if he said that part of the reason for the small mattress was in the hopes that she would still want him in bed with her and they would be closer. So far, they slept separately. 

Emmy slept at one end of the shack, curled up tight in the blankets they had. While he sat near the door under the idea that he would keep an eye out in case anyone wandered near by. They were far enough away from the town that he knew he would sense someone long before they saw the floating shack. He’d just wanted to give her the space she seemed to want.

But with a bed, they would have to at least discuss sleeping arrangements.

They pushed the mattress back against the wall and Emmy turned around before falling back on it. It was tempting to sit down next to her, but he stood quietly for a moment before moving to lean against the wall opposite the bed, “Do you want me to leave?”

She sat up quickly and looked at him, but he couldn’t bring himself to look directly at her, “What?”

“It’s been a month, Emmy. If you want me to go, I will,” not that he was sure where he would go or what he would do. Part of him knew he would stay close. Just be near in case she needed help. Out of sight, but not far away, “If you want me to stay, I will. I won’t expect anything, but I’ll stay if you want me to. I’ll understand if you’re scared to be here alone,” he’d felt, for some time, that she only kept him around because she’d never really been alone before. She had always had the safety of her home, family, friends, and fiance.

“You think...you think I’m scared to be alone?”

There was a voice in his head that told him that any response to that could be incorrect, “I don’t pretend to know what you think, Emmy. It’s just the only possibility that I can think of as to why I’m still here.”

She was quiet for longer than he felt was good, considering the outcome he wanted. But she did finally speak, “Quinlan...I…” she had used to be so sure of herself when talking. He supposed that it was his introduction into her life that was making her so hesitant with speech, “I was scared. Not to be alone, but of what...happened.”

“And you have every right to be. What I did was unforgivable,” he wouldn’t deny that he had done many unforgivable things. He fully expected when he did finally die, there would be no heaven for him. As much as he wanted to see all the people who had been important in his life in heaven again, he was sure there was a place only in hell for him. If it weren’t for him, the two other women he had cared for would have lived longer lives. What he had done to Emmy was just as bad, if not worse. The Master had taken those from him before, but this was his doing for once. It was a new feeling of shame that he’d never experienced before.

“Were you going to try to feed from me? From there?”

Would he have? No. Quinlan was sure of it. He’d fed from her thigh and there was no reason to try to feed that way, “No. I swear it.”

“Then why did you do it?” her tone was a little sharper. He could tell she had been holding this back. Avoiding the conversation, because she didn’t want to hear the wrong answers, but letting it fester.

“I don’t…”

“Don’t say you don’t know!” she snapped a little louder and he actually cringed, “You said you’d never done that before, so why did you try? It’s my body, Quinlan, I deserve to know why you tried to do that!”

She did deserve to know and he had thought about it deeply since it happened. It was never an urge he had felt before. The wish to be like any other human man with the functioning ability to be with a woman was one he had had more than once in his life, but the idea to use his stinger to attempt to achieve that had never been there before, “You do deserve to know and I wish I could give you a better answer…”

“Look at me when you’re talking to me,” it was that tone she took with her students. He had heard it several times. Tasa was good with that tone too, as had been his second mother. It wasn’t talking down to him. It was demanding respect and equality. Emmy saw herself as his equal and didn’t want him talking to a wall when he should have been talking to her, “I deserve an answer, Quinlan. Any answer.”

Turning his pale blue eyes to her, he saw she was shaking a little and her fingers were digging into the edge of the mattress. Her face was tight and tense, but her eyes were a bit watery. Her face was a little red and he could hear her heart pounding. Quinlan wasn’t sure what to say, but he had to say something. So he fell back on the only thing he had been able to think about this whole time about it, “I saw you lying there on the bed and you just looked beautiful. I didn’t deserve to see you that way. I shouldn’t even be alive. After everything, I don’t deserve to be alive, much less to get to have you in my life. Then to see you there on the bed, wanting me, satisfied with me, not caring what I am, and being happy with me…” he shook his head a little, “I don’t know what came over me. I wanted to be with you in a way I’ve never been with someone before. I know it was wrong. I know I have better self control than that and there’s no excuse for it,” he shook his head again.

The silence was unnerving, but he was surprised when she raised one of her hands up and held it out to him. Slowly, he moved from the wall and closed the short distance before wrapping his fingers around hers. Emmy pat the bed next to him and he sat. A mattress on the floor wasn’t the most comfortable for someone his height. He had to awkwardly stretch them out in front of him. It just wasn’t the most guarded of positions, “You’re not used to being this vulnerable, are you?” her fingers held his lightly and he was happy for the contact.

“I think the answer to that is fairly obvious,” he hoped it didn’t sound rude the way he said it, “No. I’m not. Not in a long time, at least,” even with Louisa, he had still been somewhat guarded. Tasa was the last to really get through to him.

“To know that you’re as old as you are and there might still be things you haven’t done, it’s kind of...humanizing,” he tilted his head to look at her curiously. Despite being half human, no one had ever mistaken him for human and few had accepted that he could be human, “You focused so hard on one thing that you missed out on others. It’s very human.”

“I like hearing you say that,” he said softly.

“I like that there might be things we can try together that you’ve never done. You’re going to have to warn me in the future though. You can’t just do something like that.”

Fingers gripping her’s a little tighter, “I’ll never do it again. I swear it, Emmy,” now that he knew what the urge felt like, he could suppress it the way he did others he had at times.

“I didn’t say that,” which took him by surprise, “Quinlan, if you felt the urge to do that, so badly so that you did it without thinking...then there is a reason for it. It’s not something we should just push aside and forget. You wanted to feed from me, because you had a reason for doing so. This is the same. We’ll talk about it more and I’ll think more about it. That way, if the urge comes up again, we’ll know how best to handle it.”

 

“Emmy…” how logical she was always surprised him. 

“But you still broke my trust, Quinlan and that’s going to take time to repair.”

He nodded, “Of course,” he could accept that.

The small smile on her lips made him feel good. It had been some time since he had seen her smile in any way, “I suppose we have to think about sleeping arrangements now,” she looked over her shoulder and down at the mattress they were sitting on.

“You take the bed. I’ll sleep somewhere else,” he didn’t want to say on the floor at the foot of the bed. That sounded too _pet_ like.

“Why don’t we just put the mattress up on the side and lean it against the wall instead? We’ll both just keep sleeping how we have been and the mattress will be something we can work towards sharing together.”

“Emmy, you don’t have to do that,” she’d been sleeping in a pile of blankets on the floor. It didn’t seem fair to her.

“I know I don’t, but I want to. Those blankets are better than the dirt and I wouldn’t be comfortable knowing you’re sleeping on the floor.”

It wasn’t often he chose to actually breath, but he inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly and patting her hand softly, “Very well. I still think you should use the bed, but if this is what you want, then we’ll do it this way.”

“Good. So let’s get this thing off the floor and up against the wall.”

Quinlan felt that they had made some progress and he found himself actually pleased with it. She hadn’t forgiven him and he didn’t want her to. She wanted to rebuild their relationship on top of the mistake that had been made, rather than wiping it out as if it had never happened. Leaning over, he moved to press a small kiss to her lips, but she turned away. It diminished the good feeling a little, but only because he realized that while her broken trust and desire to let him try to rebuild it had not wiped out his mistake, it had taken them back to the beginning. To the point where physical contact was limited to necessity for getting him across water and mild, flirtatious affection.

It would be a difficult process, but Quinlan had all the time in the world now.


	16. Chapter 16

_Quinlan knew this place. It was the Black Site. The birthplace of The Master. The place where the first worm poked it’s way from the Earth and infected the human who walked over it. It was cold and barren now. He wondered if this place actually still existed. The bomb had gone off and he was sure there would be nothing left of it. Yet here he was._

_He walked around it a bit before going to stand on the shoreline and look down at the water. It looked calm, but it was dark and reflective. He could see himself clearly in it. He looked the same as always. Stern and cold. A disgusting, cold hearted beast. That’s how he saw himself._

_“You are more handsome than you think.”_

_The voice made him jump a little and he turned quick, defensively bringing his hands up a bit at the intruder before getting a better look at them. He was surprised to see the woman. She was very pretty. Taller than most women with long, thick, wavy black hair and brown, nearly black eyes. She was wearing an off-white dress that flowed around her ankles as she walked closer to him, “Who are you?” he demanded to know and she just smiled softly. There was something familiar about her._

_“You do not recognize me. As painful as that is, I do understand. You never got to see me this way. I wish we could have met this way before. I would have been a good mother. I like to think that I was as good a mother as I could have been, but you were meant for better.”_

_Quinlan stared at her in disbelief. He had never heard her voice before. Not in this way, but he knew it now, “Mother…” she was beautiful. More so than he had imagined her to be. He’d never had anything less than love for her before, but to see her this way now, he was speechless._

_“The feast had been to celebrate my engagement to your father and the recent gladiator fights. He was a Senator,” he just let her talk, unable to find words himself and watch as she walked to the edge of the water and let it touch her toes, “No one had known that we had already bedded. It would have been seen as shameless for a girl of my standing to have bedded her soon to be husband for the actual wedding. I already knew I was with child, which was why we were rushing the ceremony.”_

_Quinlan knew so little of his mother and biological father. He just wanted her to keep talking forever._

_“Everyone already referred to me as his wife. We already had a room prepared for you. We were going to name you Marius. I just knew you were going to be a boy. I was so very happy. We were going to be a happy family.”_

_Words finally came to his tongue, “What was my father like?” he didn’t dare move closer to her. He was scared that if he did, she might disappear. Quinlan wasn’t even sure if any of this was real. He wasn’t prone to dreaming, but he knew it was possible that it was all just in his head. Even so, he didn’t want it to be over yet._

_“He was very good and handsome. You have his nose and his cheekbones,” he reached up to touch the sharp ridge of his cheekbone, “And his strong jaw. Had you any hair, I bet it would be the same as his too,” he tried, many times in his life, to imagine what he was supposed to look like. Louisa had made him up and while he enjoyed it, he always felt the blond hair had been ‘off’, “I think you would have had my skin tone,” she had nice, lightly tanned flesh, “Your father was a bit darker, but only because he enjoyed being outside working,” it made him feel good that his father was a lazy Senator like he had seen some as._

_“Mother, what was your and father’s names?” in her turned state, she had never been able to tell him. Even with their way of communicating, she seemed to know very little of her human life._

_She smiled softly before turning to look at him more fully and walk closer. Her hand came up and touched his cheek, making him gasp a little, “My name was Fabiana and your father was named Claudius.”_

_The touch felt so real and he didn’t want it to end. It wasn’t that his mother hadn’t been affectionate towards him. She had helped him to feed as an infant, caressed his cheek this same way, and her love for him kept the Master from being able to take hold of her. But this was different, “Is this real?”_

_“That would depend on your definition of real, Son. I am not alive if that is what you are wanting to know. I am very much still dead. Your second father tried to infect me further, but I continued to resist and for that he ended my existence. I am simply appearing to you.”_

_Quinlan didn’t want to question it, for fear that it would end, but he couldn’t not, “Why now? Why never before?”_

_“Because it has been a year since the death of your second father and the angels feel you deserve further explanation. I asked to be sent, because I wanted to see you. Everyone else in your life got to be with you in a way I never did. Ancharia taught you to speak and taught you to care for humans, the things I should have been allowed to do as your mother. Tasa got your love and Louisa reminded you of your humanity. I never had the chance to see those things with you or help you in life. I wanted to be here with you, if only for a moment,” she sounded so sad. The look in her eyes told him how sad she was, “I want you to know, I am proud of the man you have become.”_

_“Proud? Of what? All the lives I ruined?”_

_She smiled and wrapped her arms around him, leaning her head against his chest. It didn’t feel the same as when other women had hugged him. It was still warm and comforting, but there was just something different about it. Quinlan realized that as caring as she had been towards him in life, she had never hugged him. It seemed beyond the capability of her form at the time. His mother was hugging him for the first time, “You gave something to all of those people, Son. I promise you, they do not feel that their lives were ruined by you being there. They feel that it enhanced their lives in a way they had never thought it could be. You saved Tasa and her daughter from what would have been a terrible fate for them. You gave Louisa love and affection when she needed it the most. Ancharia is as proud of you as I am.”_

_It had been a long time since he felt the urge to cry. His body couldn’t cry, but much like being aroused, he could still feel the urge just without the capability of doing it. Slowly, he moved his arms around her and hugged her close. Quinlan never wanted to let her go, “Stay with me, Mother.”_

_She laughed softly, but didn’t release her hug, “I wish I could.”_

_“Why are you here?” it seemed painful to bring his mother into his life only to know she was going to have to go away again._

_“The angels wanted you to know why you are still alive,” the way she worded it made him think that perhaps he should have died when the Master had, “The life you have been forced to endure is not your fault. You could have ended it a long time ago by taking your own life, but you didn’t. You continued to fight. To fight and to lose those who you became close with. This is your reward, Son. To have the life you were denied so many times,” she leaned back and gazed into his pale eyes with a smile that just didn’t seem to want to fade on her lips, “Emmy loves you. She understands you and wants to be with you. You will stumble and life won’t be easy. Emmy will be scared and you’ll feel like a failure, but it’s your life now. No more Master or Ancients. Just you and Emmy and a chance to start your family.”_

_It was a nice thought. To be rewarded for his pain all these long years, but her words were strange, “Mother, Emmy has no children. Our family will be just us,” and he was content with that._

_“For now.”_

_“What...What do you mean?” his hold on her loosened a little as he pulled back to look down at her better._

_She reached up and touched his cheek lightly, “Do not worry about it for now. Just know that you are loved and watched over. No one will intrude on your happiness. Not this time.”_

_“I don’t understand…” he understood that this was supposed to be his reward, but her words about a family didn’t make sense._

Quinlan woke with a start and sat up fast gasping for breath. It was strange to feel out of breath. He wiped the back of his hand along his forehead and realized he was sweating too. Even in the end, against the Master, he hadn’t sweat. His body didn’t feel like his body right now. It felt...human. As much of a human as he had the ability to be emotionally and mentally, he had no humanity in his anatomy. He tensed and twitched as he felt something touch his arm. He nearly lashed out, but he realized it was Emmy.

She sat up in the bed next to him and was looking at him with sleepy, but concerned, eyes, “What’s wrong?” she asked softly before yawning.

Things had been going well for them. Surprisingly well. It made him wonder about his Mother’s words about him being watched. Were the angels taking care of them? Food was surprisingly easy to find and despite needing to use the stove for heat on occasion through the winter, no one from the town a few miles away seemed to notice the smoke. Quinlan had worried that the humans would use the swamps as hunting and fishing grounds, but they never saw anyone. Had the angels been doing something to keep them hidden away?

They had only got back to sharing a bed a few weeks ago. 

Emmy had surprised him one night when he came back from feeding by having the mattress on the floor. They had gone the whole winter sleeping apart and it was starting to heat back up and rain more as spring came in. She was sitting on the edge of the bed when he came in and she had him sit next to her so they could talk. Emmy admitted that she wasn’t ready for them to have sex again, though he didn’t like calling it that, but she wanted to start sharing a bed with him again. 

They even began kissing again. Just for a little bit before falling asleep, but he enjoyed it nonetheless. They talked a lot more too. As difficult as it was for him to discuss himself, she poked and prodded till he started talking more about what his ‘needs’ appeared to be. 

Emmy was more than happy to kiss, lick, and even bite at his sensitive wattle. She expressed even feeling ready for them to start letting his hands roam more. What pleased him most was hearing that she had enjoyed the way it felt when he fed from her and that she was willing to do that again some day. Though they went on to the subject of penetrating her. Quinlan admitted that he couldn’t explain why, but he had the desire to take her in that manner. 

The conversation had been difficult and awkward for the both of them. In the end, Emmy stated she would be willing to further their intimacy to that level in time. That she was willing to give it a try in the same way she had him feeding from her. They hadn’t talked about it in about a week, but he knew there was still some time before they reached that moment anyway.

The little floating shack still looked run down from the outside, but they had made it rather comfortable on the inside. It was comfortable in the shade of the swamp trees and they spent a few days raiding abandoned places outside the nearby town for books and things of that nature to keep them entertained. Quinlan stated that while this place was good for them for now, he hoped she would like to find somewhere more home like. It pleased him when she agreed with him on that. It meant that she still saw a future with him and wanted a real home with him. But for now, this shack was working for them.

Looking at her now, he reached over and pulled her close in his arms, “Nothing’s wrong. Just a bad dream,” he said lowly before leaning back on the bed. She curled up close to him and hummed happily, “Try to get some sleep.”

“You’re warm,” she said softly as her fingers stroked along his chest.

They had agreed that she needed to go to the town. He would go with her, but stay hidden as much as possible. Emmy needed supplies that the swamp couldn’t provide. Mostly things for comfort. Emmy wanted soap and feminine items. She also wanted to see if she could get some kind of vegetation that could be grown either inside the shack or at least on the shoreline. Turtle and alligator meat, she had gotten used to, but she admitted to wanting to taste a vegetable again. It meant revealing that she was out here, but he knew that would be necessary at some point. At least till they could find somewhere better to live where she could grow her own foods in large quantities.

They both realized this could complicate things. People might think she was out here alone and try to take advantage of that. They would want to know where she came from and why she was here. 

But right now, those worries could wait. He laid back and listened to the sound of her breathing as she drifted back off. Somehow, he felt that things were going to okay. For the first time, he felt really content. Not just content with the situation they were in, but actually content that things were going to stay going well.

“I love you, Emmy,” he said quietly, but she was already asleep.


	17. Chapter 17

Emmy had taken to crocheting and the like. She found a set of hooks at one of the houses they raided and while there wasn’t a lot of yarn, she used and reused it before starting to tear up old clothing into strips and making things with it. It made for nice rugs and blankets, not that he needed them to keep warm. She would take them into town on the rare occasion that they went there and trade them for things. Mostly, he suspected she did it just to keep herself occupied. Quinlan worried that she was growing bored. She no longer had students to teach or family and friends to talk with. He liked to believe that he was conversation enough for her, but he knew that it wasn’t true. Tasa had her daughter and their servants to talk with. Louisa had her own daughter and friends in her life. Even his second mother had gone around villages and had acquaintances. They would go several days without speaking to each other. Not because they didn’t want to, but they didn’t have much to talk about.

Right now, she was sitting on the bed pulling apart whatever it was she was working on. Apparently it did not look the way she wanted it to. He liked watching her work with her yarn and rags. When she got going, it was very repetitive and mesmerizing. Walking over, he sat down next to her and started picking up the yarn and rolling it up as she pulled it free of her newest project. She smiled at him for a moment before looking back down at her yarn. 

His stinger rattled lightly in his chest and he choked it back a bit. Not since feeding on her had he drank from anything other than a swamp critter. It was tempting to find someone in town to take, but he knew that would upset her and they seemed to be decent people. Until Emmy felt ready to allow him to feed from her again, he was sure he wouldn’t be drinking human blood for some time. That meant they both had to go back to listening to his stinger rattle and click in his chest as it protested the closeness of her without drinking.

It rattled more loudly and he started to stand up to go outside to calm it down a little more, but she set her things down and touched his knee, “Don’t go,” he usually left the room when it rattled that way. He wasn’t scared of hurting her, but he knew that it was not the most pleasant thing to listen to, “I don’t mind it.”

“Are you sure?” even as he asked, he settled back down next to her.

“I am,” Emmy smiled and pushed the yarn and such off her lap onto the floor as she scooted closer to him. Intimacy had been a slow process. They shared the bed and even kissed, but he kept his hands sitting on her waist and despite the summer heat, she stayed fairly well clothed.

The half-breed reached over and brushed some of her hair behind her ear. It had grown out several inches since she last cut it and was starting to get wavy again. He liked the way it felt between his fingers, “I didn’t think you would want to listen to it.”

“I’ve become used to it,” she smiled again, “You do it in your sleep. It’s sort of like white noise.”

“I’m glad you don’t mind it.”

Emmy raised her hand up and touched his cheek for a moment before her fingers trailed down towards his throat. He shivered a little as she traced along the lines of skin, “Can I see it?”

That was surprising. Quinlan wasn’t sure he heard her correctly at first, “My...stinger? You want to see it?”

She bit her lower lip and nodded, “I do. If you’re going to feed from me again and possibly, well, you know...I feel like I should see it. I’ve never properly got to look at it,” he never fed around her. There may have been small glimpses of it when he had to bite it back, but he’d never shown it to her.

“I’m not sure that is such a good idea.”

“Maybe not and if you really don’t want to show me, then I won’t make you. I just think that I should see it. Touch it,” while he was disgusted with that part of himself, the way she said it was almost sensual. 

Quinlan still thought it was a bad idea. He knew it had the possibility to scare her out of ever wanting it near her again. Emmy was an intelligent woman and logical, but she was still human. It was reasonable that she be disgusted by it if she saw him. He was actually worried that if it upset her to see it so close, she wouldn’t want to continue being close with him at all. Still, it was her choice to do this, “If it’s what you want.”

Emmy nodded and moved to get more comfortable on the bed as she faced him. He felt a little strange. He’d never done something like this before. Tasa and Louisa had never seen it that way and they had never asked to. 

The muscles in his throat worked as he felt the organ moving it’s way up. The unique structure of his tongue allowed it to split lengthwise up the sides as the stinger pushed it’s way through. He opened his mouth a little and felt the tendrils pushing at the sides of his mouth. It was difficult to make himself look her in the face. Instead, he looked off to the side a bit, but he heard her breath hitch a little. He opened his mouth wider, allowing the bulk of the tip room to free itself. Quinlan restrained it a little, not allowing the full length of it to come out.

The organ itself was six feet long. It was made out of what would have been his human organs. One lung and several bones from his human fetus had been used to create the tip, while the other lung was further down the six foot length and used as a sort of digestive sack. In a fight, he could expel the full length of it, exposing the second lung sack, but Quinlan rarely did so and saw no reason to do so now.

“Oh wow…” he heard her say softly and he flicked his eyes up to her. She didn’t look disgusted. If anything, she looked interested. Quinlan sometimes forgot that she was a teacher at heart. She was curious about things. 

Her hands slid up to his shoulders and he tensed a little as she moved closer to him. The appendage seemed to aim itself at her, but he had control of it. Unable to talk or knowing what to do, Quinlan began retracting it, “No. Don’t,” she said softly and he looked at her curiously as she brought one of her hands up. The tendrils flexed and the fang came out and pulled back in. He could see she was nervous, but she wasn’t going to let it stop her.

When her fingers touched the sides just behind the tendrils, he winced. It felt strange. He’d never even touched it himself, much less let anyone else. Her heart was racing, he could hear it pounding loudly in his ears, as her fingers touched along the length of it till she reached his lips. Quinlan shivered and closed his eyes for a moment as she touched it. He realized it was more sensitive than his neck. It rattled a little and he opened his eyes to see her scooting closer as her fingers moved back up to the tendrils. The little claw like tendrils flexed as she stroked over one of them. 

Without thinking, he moaned softly as his eyes shut again when her fingers stroked the muscles around the fang in the center before touching the tendril on the other side. He reached out and slid his hands along her hips and gripped lightly. It felt better than he thought it would. Emmy touched every exposed bit of the appendage and he realized he was shaking a little and his fingers were digging into her hips harder. 

The scent of her blood and the taste of it over his stinger took him by surprise and his eyes opened quick to see her holding the little hunting knife he’d given her. She’d cut the palm of her hand and was holding it up to his stinger. It was a very thin and shallow cut, not even allowing the blood to drip. The smell of her blood just barely covered a second scent. Her arousal.

Quinlan had caught that scent several times before, but like other times, he allowed her to control how far it went. The taste and smell of her blood over top of it was too much for him this time though. Emmy didn’t resist as he pushed her back on the bed. The stinger started to retract, but she tilted her head to the side and slid her free hand to the back of his head, pressing gently to direct him to her exposed throat. He knew he should have stopped and questioned if this was really what she wanted, but he couldn’t control it right now.

His stinger retracted, but only so that he could press it flush up against her throat with his lips as he had with her thigh. Emmy was breathing heavy and her hand was holding the back of his head fast. She wanted him to do this and that excited him greatly. The tendril claws stroked along her neck as one of his hands released her hip and moved along her pelvis. He reached the button and zipper of her jeans and she bucked her hips a little. Working the closures open, he waited till he had his hand down between her thighs before he sank the central fang into her flesh and started the blood flow.

Emmy groaned lowly as he slid his fingers down her slick slit. While he was usually more fond of foreplay, Quinlan growled and drove his fingers deep into her. She responded favorably by raising her hips and pressing them hard against his hand. Their bodies pressed tight together, he barely had the room to move his fingers inside her. It would have been easier without her jeans, but that would mean stopping. Instead, he just scissored and flexed his fingers inside of her while her blood filled him. 

He wanted to keep feeding. Natural instinct told him to drain her dry, but he managed to ignore that urge as he broke the hold on her throat. She gasped softly as her head lolled to the side to look up at him. Their eyes locked as his stinger retracted fully and he could give her a small, soft smile. It wasn’t much longer till she came against his hand. Emmy panted and squirmed under him as he continued moving his fingers inside of her through the entirety of the orgasm.

Wiping his hand on the blanket, he inspected her neck to make sure the bleeding had stopped. There was a small dribble of blood, but he expected that. It had sealed up as quick as her thigh had and he was pleased with the sight of the small marking on her neck that it had left behind. Despite how gentle he had been in creating the incision, he had drank more quickly than usual and it had left an almost ‘hickey’ like mark on her throat. It would fade quickly, he was sure.

Lying back on the bed, she curled up close to him, her breathing returning to normal. This was how it should have been their first time. As much as he hated himself for what he had done before, he was happy to be where they were now, “That felt wonderful,” she said softly. He could hear the weakness in her voice, she wouldn’t be awake much longer.

“It was. I didn’t realize it would feel that way to have you touch it,” it felt good knowing there were new things for him to explore with Emmy, “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“I wasn’t expecting it either. It didn’t feel how I thought it would,” not that she elaborated on how she thought it would have, “I’m tired.”

Quinlan smiled a little as he stroked his fingers along her arm, “Just sleep. You’ll need to eat something when you wake though.”

“Quinlan…” she nuzzled against him lightly before kissing his neck softly, “I love you, Quinlan.”

How long had it been since he heard that? Louisa had never said it. Not that she might not have felt it, but their relationship had not been very long. Tasa had never shied away from expressing her feelings for him. It felt good to hear it again and to know that it was heartfelt, “I love you too, Emmy.”


End file.
